Learning and exchange

Agroecology - connecting digitally

A Hub?

The Hub is an online platform with lists of stakeholders will be created with descriptions of roles and activities to connect digitally with colleagues and experts, share knowledge, insights and best practice, learn from experiences and inspire innovation and new ways of working in Agroecology.

For who?

The Hub will gather different stakeholders (farmers integrated into territory, local food hubs, policymaker, food supplier, restaurants and chefs, NGOs, researchers, teachers and students in higher education institutes) to facilitate exchanges in the Europe-wide network of agroecology organizations (linking academic and real-world actors).

Living labs and research infrastructures

Accelerating the adoption of new ways of thinking leading to new practices and technologies requires developing and implementing novel participatory research infrastructures. The LLs approach, which builds on the three core principles of user-centred innovation, real-life experimental setups and private-public-people partnerships, may offer the potential to better address current agroecosystem challenges. For this project we will use the definition of ALL established by the international Agroecosystems Living Laboratories (ALL) working group (Agroecosystems Living Laboratories (ALL) Executive Report 2019, www.macs-g20.org): “Transdisciplinary approaches which involve farmers, scientists and other interested partners in the co-design, monitoring and evaluation of new and existing agricultural practices and technologies on working landscapes to improve their effectiveness and early adoption.

Within work package 4 of AE4EU we are setting up and facilitating 3 living labs in 3 countries (NL, UK, IT) to develop context-based and site-specific solutions to the central question “which mechanisms will strength the agroecological research and innovation ecosystems in Europe?”. To create the LL, 3 workshops are organised in each country. Learn more about the workshops already held here.

Agroecosystem living lab, an approach towards a sustainable agriculture

Living lab (LL) may have slightly different meanings in different fields of research and to different actors or organizations. Nevertheless, all LL are known as user-centered approach with involvement of multiple actors to co-create, explore and evaluate the innovations together in a real-life condition.

A living lab is comparable to an ecosystem with different living organisms (different actors) and abiotic components (LL criteria) that are linked together (co-creation, co-development) to fulfill the specific function (outcomes: e.g. solutions or products).

Ecosystems are dynamic entities that are responding to environmental changes (interactions and networks within and between the systems) and therefore sustainability and resilience are considered as two important features of any living system including an agroecosystem and a LL.

Based on the executive report of international agroecosystem living laboratories (MACS 2019) three general components of agroecosystem living lab are defined:

1) transdisciplinary approaches,

2) co-design and co-development with participants,

3) monitoring, evaluation and research in real landscapes. Implementation of living lab approach in agroecosystem might be a good solution to move faster and more effectively towards a sustainable agriculture and agri-food system as LLs deal with diverse aspects of agroecosystem (ecological, social and political), consider different actors who are involved in a project and address current challenges (e.g. water and soil problem, climate change, etc.).

Read the full article: here !

A Living Lab workshop took place during the 3rd Agroecology Europe Forum in Barcelona.

The workshop was held online and the recording can be rewatched:

Education & Training

Education and training in agroecology require case-specific, adaptive, reflective, experiential and action learning for further development of context-specific, highly complex, adaptable and not one-fits-all practices and systems in agriculture and food systems. Although some emerging experiences with different training programmes and education as well as LL learning experience exist, they are mainly still isolated and vary significantly in scope, goals and focus. Bringing successful experiences together and develop a European Knowledge Exchange Network in agroecology will allow bringing momentum into the amplification and concrete implementation of agroecology in Europe.

ECVC with the support of local organisations has held three training programmes for agroecology in three different countries. Those training gather different stakeholders (farmers, research/students, environmentalist organisations and local actors) and will be used to develop pilot training guidelines.

Read the full article here!