Over the past 18 months, since February 2024 STRATUS has:
• [WP1] Stablished a EU-wide advisory network composed of advisors from all Member States. The network has three sub-networks, Fertilization and Innovation Networks (FIN), which are based on three themes (Precision Farming, Bio-Based Fertilizers and Soil Quality). The 3 FINs gather advisors from 11 MS. The EUFRAS and SEASN networks are partners in the project and together they reach 12 MS. The other 4 MS are included in the project as mirror countries thanks to specific partners who are responsible for including them. In addition, 10 Communities of Practices (CoP) were set up with local AKIS members to find out what the best way to use fertilisers was. Their leaders are advisors of the FINs. Hence, the EU-wide advisory network is embedded in the local sector. The creation of the CoPs got 247 stakeholders from the local sector involved. Among these stakeholders, 26 were policy makers. Collaborative actions with other relevant EU advisory projects were launched, with the celebration of the 1st Cross-fertilisation Workshop.
• [WP2, WP3] Identified 52 Good Practices (GPs) and Research Innovations (RIs) related to IFM, in particular on precision farming techniques (PF), on the use of bio-based fertilisers (BBF) and on different techniques that maintain or improve soil quality (SQ). FINs identified them and collected data about their on-farm applicability, economic effects, regulatory and environmental aspects, and social acceptance. The local CoPs participated in identifying practices, thus ensuring that their needs were considered. Afterwards, taking into consideration the collected data, the network selected the 24 Best Practices (9 PF, 7 BBF, 8 SQ) from these 52 – the ones with the best results in terms of on-farm applicability, economic effects, regulatory and environmental aspects, and social acceptance.
• [WP2] Created a digital platform ‘AdvisoryAgriHub’, as a joint effort by five EU-funded advisory networks projects (AdvisoryNetPEST, OrganicAdviceNetwork, LiveNet, FORADVICE and STRATUS) on different topics (livestock, pesticides, forestry, fertilisers and organic farming). The platform contains a repository for the knowledge generated in the five projects allowing cross-pollinization between topics. The collected 52 GPs and RIs from STRATUS translated in 11 languages are available in the platform.
• [WP4] Delivered two trainings for advisors of the STRATU EU-wide advisory network. The first was a ‘Soft-Skills Training’ to teach advisors how to engage with the local sector, communicate societal requirements and enhance group innovation. The second was an ‘Organisational-Skills Training’ on how to organise farm visits, demonstrations and group management, as well as providing individual advice.
