Knowledge exchange, innovation and the promotion of more

environmentally-sustainable agriculture in Europe

Janet Dwyer CCRI

University of Gloucestershire, UK

Outline

• Challenges for EU agriculture and

rural areas

• Implications for rural actions and

resources

• Innovation – what, where and how?

– ideas for further research

• Increasing fossil fuel prices – higher global demand, lower / more costly / less secure supplies

• Growing global food demand

• Climate change - pressures north and south from temperature and rainfall shifts

• Demographic change – shrinking workforce, pressure in south

• Continuing austerity in public finances –reduced financing for CAP and Regions?

Challenges for EU agriculture &

rural areas

highest negativeimpact

medium negative impact

low negative impactno/marginal impactlow positive impact

.No data*

reduced data*ESPON CLIMATE study

Vulnerability

to climate

change of EU

regions

Population Change

2000-2007

Annual Average

Change per 1000

inhabitants

- < -6.0 (193)

- -6.0 - -3.0 (154)

- -3.0 - 0.0 (226)

- 0.0 - 3.0 (300)

- 3.0 - 6.0 (249)

- > 6.0 (341)

- no data

Source: DEMIFER project,

annex of maps: ESPON

2012

These trends are set to continue,

placing pressure on many poorer

and some water-stressed regions

Implications for rural activities &

resources

• EU agriculture must become much more

resource-efficient: using fewer non-

renewable inputs, conserving soil and water,

and reducing or eliminating wastes

• The multifunctionality of

rural spaces must be

maintained and

increased, embracing

energy generation and

non-food products plus

sustained use for leisure

and food production

• Ecosystem services

need more attention and

long-term planning

‘Innovation’ – What?

Means thinking or doing something

perceived as quite new (in that

context):

• Technological change

• New knowledge

• New ways of working

• New (farming) systems

• New ways of doing policy

• New institutional arrangements

Innovation – Why?• To transform farm-level knowledge

about best management strategies and sustainability planning

• To raise standards of practice on farms, achieving a ‘step-change’ in approach

• To develop new businesses / sub-sectors and successfully exploit market opportunities based upon sustainable resource management

• To test and learn from the experience of successful pioneers

How best to promote

innovation?It is not possible to force people to innovate,

BUT

there is much evidence of the value of fostering and promoting a climate in which

innovation is encouraged

KEY ingredients*:

• Stronger research-practice linkages

• Communities of learning: advice, training and information (awareness-raising)

• New networking and collaborative action

*EP-funded study on sustainable competitiveness and innovation. 2012

Examples – research-practice

linkages• Lower Saxony: regional government has joint

research and investment programmes with local manufacturing and chemical industries to develop novel crops and new products, working with farmer organisations

• England: government-funded research programmes encourage scientists to work with groups of farmers, in ‘adaptive co-learning’ to understand soil quality and hydrological cycles, and plan for climate change (increased severity of flooding)

• The expanding IFM community is innovating and sharing good practice across the EU

Examples – training, advice &

informationThere is little point forcing people to take advice: make it attractive, enjoyable and accessible

• Dedicated ‘filière’ programmes (Italy, France, Germany) often led by processors, use a tailored package = training, advice, consumer information to scale-up supply chains and increase producer viability

• Farmer-led ‘hubs’ (Wales) encourage members to identify and pursue training and information needs, with peer support and access to funds

• LEADER Action Groups fund visits and exchanges - these have stimulated farmer demand for knowledge

Lessons and examples – innovative

networks & collaboration• Bridging social capital is a key element in

micro-regional development: mixing skills,

knowledge and experience - external facilitators

may be needed (evidence: EDORA project)

• Agri-environment co-operatives, Netherlands

offer environmental gains via more flexible

approaches, designed by farmers themselves

• Integrated territorial programmes in Southern

Italy show the value of multi-actor planning and

delivery partnerships, involving a WIDE range of

regional interests

Innovation: How?

Enabling policy is vital

- consider the plumber…

• We need smarter working with multiple goals,

integrated planning & delivery

• We need to control and reduce the weight of

controls and bureaucracy – make policies

closer to beneficiary, more flexible

• ‘Better targeting’ does not have to mean more

constraints, higher costs!

2 models from industry, worth

further research?• BPR – ‘business process re-engineering’,

analysing processes to enable simplification, with a strong focus upon the experiences of all actors in the delivery chain

• Lean Systems and Systems thinking – to enable a move away from ‘one size fits all’ approaches, to programmes which enable tailored solutions for each individual situation, without leading to excessive bureaucracy or high costs

Thank you!

jdwyer@glos.ac.uk