EURAKNOS investigated in depth the structure and procedures of Thematic Networks (TN) and the knowledge they collect and exchange, which had not been analysed previously. The project identified and validated best practices and methodologies used in TN projects through participatory workshops with a dedicated multi-actor expert panel consisting of about 50 TN coordinators, advisors, farmers, foresters, policy makers, researchers, as well as representatives from chambers of agriculture, industry, SMEs, and NGOs.
During the EURAKNOS project, 17 cross-exchange visits between different TNs and other EIP-AGRI initiatives were organised at different levels to share and discuss views and results. The focus was to share best practices to implement these networks and how and to link with groups of actors active in the EIP-AGRI (Operational Groups). Much of the output of these cross-exchanges, was captured in short, easy-to-read documents known as “Practice Abstracts”. To share the messages and results of these exchanges with a wider community of actors, five videos, 50 podcasts, and more than 30 news items were released by the project.
To support the work of TNs, guidelines on how to improve the multi-actor approach in Europe were established and made widely available in the EURAKNOS TN Explorer’s Guide on 'How to design and implement Thematic Networks to maximise user engagement and impact'.
The guide contains key insights from this community of practice, written for a particular use by future coordinators and consortium members of Thematic Networks. It charts the course for a harmonised approach on how to make a high impact knowledge reservoir and for conducting future multi-actor projects efficiently and effectively. The guide is available in several languages. Additionally, a vision paper on high-impact Knowledge Reservoirs plus a policy brief with recommendations to enhance the sustainability and impact of Thematic Networks were published.
The ultimate aim of EURAKNOS was to take the insights from the cross-exchange visits, surveys, in-depth interviews and other project workshops, and incorporate them into the first prototype of a web-based, user-friendly database and platform – the EU FarmBook. This platform was built to allow farmers, foresters, and advisors have easier access to content produced by other projects. These users were involved in the project, providing critical feedback and insights on the content, format, and added value of the work generated by Thematic Networks and the EURAKNOS project. A total of 790 knowledge objects (e.g. videos, documents, presentations, audio files, images) produced by Horizon 2020 TN projects were collected for upload in the EU FarmBook. By delivering the concept for the prototype of the EU FarmBook, EURAKNOS showed that an EU-wide open-source agricultural knowledge innovation database with readily applicable knowledge for the end-user is feasible.
