Stimulating Innovation eXperiments in Food prOcessing Live Demonstrators

Project Information

SIXFOLD

Grant agreement ID: 101158281

DOI

10.3030/101158281

EC signature date 28 June 2024

Start date 1 September 2024

End date 31 August 2026

Funded under

• European innovation ecosystems

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 989 673,13

Coordinated by

SEINAJOEN AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SIXFOLD (Stimulating Innovation eXperiments in Food prOcessing Live Demonstrators)

Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2025-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

SIXFOLD unites partners from the ‘Smart Sensors 4 Agri-food’ Partnership, and its network of Living Labs with a clear aim, Stimulating Innovation eXperiments in Food prOcessing Live Demonstrators.

The twin transition stands at the heart of the Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy. Living Labs are looking for more experimentation by engaging societal stakeholders and addressing innovation barriers experienced by agri-food companies. SIXFOLD aims to facilitate implementation of deep tech within the agri-food sector, by building a robust network of Living Labs across the EU. This network will support a dynamic and regionally embedded ecosystem thriving with deep tech innovations relevant for the agri-food industry such as AI and machine learning, robots and co-bots, biotech, etc. throughout the food system. The timing is critical for agri-food companies to experiment with innovative technologies and collaboration with deep tech innovators. SIXFOLD builds on an existing framework. The network of Living Labs will in this way facilitate collaborative knowledge exchange by actively engaging stakeholders from various regions and ensuring inclusivity and diversity in participation.

Main objective - SIXFOLD
To foster and promote the twin transition of the agri-food industry in Europe and to accelerate the introduction and effective implementation of deep tech innovations within this sector, SIXFOLD will build a robust and regionally embedded network of Living Labs across the EU. . The main objective is furthers divided to three specific objectives as follows.

Significant Objectives:

SO1 – Strengthen and further elaborate an interconnected and regionally embedded network of Living Labs, with a focus on the involvement of deep tech innovators and regulators, that support the development and uptake of innovative deep tech solutions in the agri-food industry.

SO2 – Develop, exchange and scale-up best practices and guidelines in view of stimulating implementation of deep tech innovations in the agri-food industry, by setting up study visits to the different regional ecosystems and by seeking complementarities with other networks of Living Labs, test beds, etc. that facilitate the deployment of disruptive technologies.

SO3 – To sustain the network of regionally embedded Living Labs for the future and ensure the continuous involvement of the relevant stakeholders, a sustainability plan will be developed for this supportive network, including a governance model and hands-on Action Plan.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Under Specific Objective 1 (SO1), the project completed a comprehensive mapping of 12 regions (6 core and 6 associated), assessing regional capacities, challenges and Living Lab infrastructures. This analysis informed the identification of relevant barrier cases for the study visits. Based on these insights, the Operational Handbook of Living Labs was revised to reflect deep tech and Industry 5.0 perspectives. In addition, a co creation methodology was developed and delivered through partner training to ensure harmonised stakeholder engagement across regions.
Under Specific Objective 2 (SO2), SIXFOLD launched its transnational study visit programme to enable cross regional learning and experimentation. Two study visits were implemented during M1–M14 and documented in Deliverable D2.3.1:
• Belgium (May 2025, Kortrijk): focusing on data management and Digitalisation as a Service.
• Finland (June 2025, Seinäjoki): addressing regulatory challenges and consumer acceptance of Novel Foods, including precision fermentation.
Both visits applied a structured problem solving and co creation approach, directly involving SMEs, regulators and technology providers. Further study visits were held or planned in Lithuania (November 2025), focusing on funding and finance barriers, and Spain (February 2026), addressing advanced digital twins in food processing, including skills, data access and cybersecurity.
Regarding Specific Objective 3 (SO3), the consortium drafted and validated the SIXFOLD Action Plan (D3.1) integrating findings from the regional mapping and study visits. The Action Plan proposes a Knowledge Transfer Committee (KTC) to support sustained collaboration and outlines SME capacity building measures such as digital maturity assessments and mentorship. Early impact is visible through strong stakeholder interest in the co creation methodology and thematic workshops. The Living Lab framework developed in SIXFOLD provides a replicable model for supporting the twin transition beyond the agri food sector. The project actively involves regulators as core stakeholders, demonstrated during the Finland study visit where regulatory sandboxing concepts for precision fermentation were explored.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project has demonstrated early impact through its co-creation methodology and thematic workshop content, which have attracted interest from both project partners and external stakeholders. The methodological framework for regionally embedded Living Labs offers a replicable model for enhancing the twin transition in other sectors, representing a novel contribution to the field of deep tech-enabled agri-food innovation. SIXFOLD actively involves regulators as core stakeholders in the innovation process. This was demonstrated during the Finland study visit, where solutions for "Regulatory Sandboxing" for precision fermentation were prototyped.