Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Inno4Grass (Shared Innovation Space for Sustainable Productivity of Grasslands in Europe)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2018-07-01 al 2019-12-31
in 2013 (Eurostat). The large acreage of grasslands and the many environmental benefits (e.g. biodiversity, mitigation of climate change) that grasslands can provide are important reasons for requiring innovations in grasslands. This multi-functionality of grasslands often is not seen as advantageous by EU farmers; in fact, this multi-functionality is completely understated and not fully understood. In a time where market-driven concepts for ecosystem services rewards are not or not sufficiently developed or understood, the multi-functionality of grasslands often causes competitive claims. EU-grasslands are becoming more and more areas of conflicts between food demand and provision of other ecosystem services. Many EU farmers and farmers’ associations are struggling to seek solutions on how to increase the contribution of grasslands in terms of economic added value and at the same time stimulate rural development, ecological benefits and societal requirements such as healthy food production. Furthermore, grassland-based farming was in the last decades not seen as just as economically viable as many other sectors (e.g. arable production) in many European grassland areas, leading to a decrease in the total grassland area. This was associated to a restrained adoption of innovations in grasslands. Several reasons explain the low adoption of innovations in grasslands: i) grassland-based production systems are complex and therefore innovative systems must be implemented as a combination of innovative practices that show a dependency to local conditions, ii) benefits from innovation on grasslands are perceived with some time lag, iii) grassland innovation affects the various aspects of sustainability (profitability, environment, social acceptance) and often in a contradictory manner and above all iv) limited interaction between practice and research.
The overall objective of Inno4Grass is to close the gap between practice and science and to ensure implementation of innovative systems on productive grasslands to achieve profitability of European grassland farms and to preserve environmental values.
A project website was implemented (www.inno4grass.eu) that has been updated continuously. 16 Facilitator Agents have been identified and trained during the project term to act as brokers and moderators for socially creating knowledge in discussion groups. A broad experience exchange has taken place through face-2-face as well as through electronic discussion groups as well as through several bilateral meetings. Inno4Grass has produced a large set of hands-on training material. Another major and important outcome was the Syllabus and its according PowerPoint presentations (Del. 5.3). A synthesis of innovations was published through leaflets, videos, and databases within the Information Management System.