The i2Connect project officially started on November 1, 2019. Connecting advisers to boost interactive innovation in agriculture and forestry – i2connect project aims to fuel the competencies of advisors who will support and facilitate interactive innovation processes. The strategy in i2connect is to use the existing advisor networks and the experiences of success to create a broader network and momentum of change enabling a new culture of bottom-up led innovation support. This resource of over 40,000 advisors are critical to support agriculture and forestry on the ground and must be influenced in this project to support innovation with emphasis on EIP-Agri 2020.
An inventory will be made where best practices throughout Europe will be analyzed in an interactive way to guide the development of approaches and tools.
A pool of trainers will be trained to work with these materials in training to better coach advisors. Attention will also be given to the ‘enabling environment’: ways in which managers of advisory services, research actors, policy makers and others can create conditions that are conducive for interactive innovation processes. The project will support learning through courses in the main European languages. Training courses will include a period of moderated peer coaching on the job for advisors. Some advisors may join cross visit teams for studying interesting cases abroad. These activities feed into a professional network with many local branches, supported by the project through a moderated online platform for mutual coaching and sharing experiences on themes that emerge.
i2connect brings together 42 organizations, most of them directly involved in stimulating innovation in rural areas and food systems in all corners of Europe, especially in CEE countries. The major European farm and forestry advisory services are partners. They are committed to contribute to a continuous learning and improvement of advisory support making better use of the opportunities that the EIP-Agri program has created for bridging the gap between research and practice.
The main goal of the project is to enable consultants and their organizations to involve and support farmers and forest owners and users in interactive innovative processes.
To achieve this main goal, the following tasks are envisaged:
To strengthen the skills, competencies and attitudes of advisors to support interactive innovation, by: identifying and sharing best practices, developing tools and methods, training, and organizing peer to peer learning & networking;
To enhance and profile the role of advisors in interactive innovation processes, at different scales: by a better understanding of the AKIS at country level, by identifying providers of advisory services across Europe, by creating an enabling environment within advisory services, by better connecting and embedding advisory services within the AKIS and by appropriate public policies;
To create a social support network and a networking culture among advisors facilitating innovative innovation processes. In particular emphasis will be given to ensure that advisors in Central and Eastern European countries make use of the opportunities being created in the project.
The total budget of the project amounts to EUR 4,999,943.00. and will run for 5 years This project aims to cover consultants in a common network from all countries in Europe, providing them with training opportunities, exchange of good practices and dissemination of tools and methods that will facilitate their participation. in interactive innovative processes at different levels. The project is coordinated by the French Chamber of Agriculture (APCA- Chambres d'agriculture France).
NAAS participates as a part of the project and will lead in Work Package (WP) 5, activity 5.3: Development and provision of communication through social media. In addition, the NAAS participates in the implementation of other project activities.
