Call: Advisors' roles in the functioning of AKIS and advisory policies boosting innovation in sustainable agriculture

1. Excellent Science
2. Industrial Leadership
3. Societal Challenges

Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, together with the bio-based industries, are integral parts of the European economy and society. Relying on the use of limited natural resources, these sectors produce and process biological resources to satisfy the demand of consumers and a wide range of industries for food, feed, bio-energy and bio-based products. While they enhance Europe’s self-reliance and provide jobs and business opportunities essential for rural, coastal and marine areas, these sectors are also facing significant challenges which require solutions based on research and innovation. A transition is needed towards an optimal and renewable use of biological resources and towards sustainable primary production and processing systems. These systems will need to produce more food, fibre and other bio-based products with minimised inputs, environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions, and with enhanced ecosystem services, zero waste and adequate societal value.

The call will support a 'rural renaissance' by raising the natural, social, cultural and economic potential of rural areas and fostering policy coherence. It will aim to boost economic development, environmental services and entrepreneurial innovation, in particular in SMEs, in

rural and coastal areas. This will be achieved by building on diversification and modernisation strategies and capitalising on local assets, including human, natural and cultural capital. The call is structured around three main areas:

• new approaches towards policies and governance: activities will be aimed at improving policies and governance at various geographic scales to foster sustainable growth in rural areas. They will cover aspects such as territorial linkages and coherent policy approaches for the management and use of natural resources and for the provision of ecosystem services and public goods;
• new value chains and business models: to foster sustainable growth in rural areas, new services, products and value chains will be developed that take advantage of technological and non-technological innovations and the scope for greater cross-sectoral synergies will be explored; and
• innovation and skills development: activities directed at knowledge and innovation systems, education and training, advisory services and entrepreneurial skills will enhance rural communities' capacity to mobilise new knowledge and technologies for the development of their activities. In addition, activities will aim to foster the delivery of policies imp acting innovation and will contribute to the implementation of the European Innovation Partnership 'Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability'.

All together, these three areas include the following topics:

• Consolidated policy framework and governance models for synergies in rural-urban linkages
• Coastal-rural interactions: Enhancing synergies between land and sea-based activities
• Towards 2030 - policies and decision tools for an integrated management of natural resources
• Water farms – improving farming and its impact on the supply of drinking water
• Novel public policies, business models and mechanisms for the sustainable supply of and payment for forest ecosystem services
• Crop diversification systems for the delivery of food, feed, industrial products and ecosystems services - from farm benefits to value-chain organisation
• Resource-efficient and profitable industrial crops on marginal land
• Demonstration of integrated logistics centres for food and non-food applications
• Business models for modern rural economies
• Thematic Networks compiling knowledge ready for practice
• On-farm demonstrations: deepening farmer-to-farmer learning mechanisms
• Networking European farms to boost thematic knowledge exchanges and close the innovation gap
• Building a future science and education system fit to deliver to practice
• Advisors' roles in the functioning of AKIS and advisory policies boosting innovation in sustainable agriculture
• The benefits of working with others – fostering social capital in the farming sector
• Optimising interactive innovation project approaches and the delivery of EU policies to speed up innovation in rural areas

In particular, action in this area will contribute to the objectives of European Structural and Investment funds, including Rural Development under the Common Agricultural Policy, the Innovation Union, recent developments on rural-urban partnerships and energy and climate policies.

There is a need to analyse the role of advisors in the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) and explore farmers' decision making processes. The role that authorities and private industry attribute to advisory services, and their expectations in terms of how this will help them fulfil their own objectives needs to be researched if we are to understand how AKIS really functions. New approaches need to be developed to enhance advisors' potential to boost innovation through their function as intermediaries connecting science and practice. The focus should be on the farmers' needs and behaviour, improving connections with research and finding ways of providing accurate and timely advice, including the use of new ICT advisory tools. 

The growing number and impact of private advisors and the shrinkage of public extension services makes cooperation between different types of advisors more challenging. New forms of interaction among advisors and between advisors and scientists need to be explored, in order to ultimately improve knowledge flows in Member States' AKIS and in the EU, and to conserve and develop public knowledge for agriculture.

Proposals should examine how farmers make their decisions and who influences them most. Within this context, activities should analyse the role of the various types of advisor in the AKISs. Taking into account the impact of face-to-face interaction, projects should identify the key factors in the creation of trust between farmer and advisor so as to enable effective knowledge transfer and exchange. They shall, as a minimum, explore the relationship between advisors and researchers and between advisors and farmers, identifying the main elements facilitating the flow of information in both directions. Particular attention should be paid to advisors' potential to boost innovation, inter alia by funnelling practice needs into research activities, participating and intermediating in farmer-to-farmer learning processes and interactive innovation projects.

Moreover, projects should examine which governance models are most appropriate for empowering such multi-functional advisory services.Proposals shall also explore the role of advisors in innovation networks at local, regional, national and European level and the role of farmers' associations or private advisors linked to agricultural input suppliers. Activities should analyse the impact of funding for multi-functional advisory services under national policies and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in general, including the impact of public procurement for the selection of advisory services, possible difficulties for smaller advisory services wishing to participate, the requirement that advisors should follow regular training etc. Projectss shall identify best practices from a broad series of practical cases across the EU.

At least three legal entities. Each of the three must be established in a different EU Member State or Horizon 2020 associated country. All three legal entities must be independent of each other.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to 5 million € would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude the submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Funding rate: 100% 

Link to the National Contact Point Finder.