Unipi Team Leader: Prof. Gianluca Brunori, Dip. di Scienze agrarie, alimentari e agro-ambientali

LIAISON aims to make a significant and meaningful contribution to optimising interactive innovation project approaches and the delivery of EU policies to speed up innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas.

Researchers, policy advisors, actors from interactive innovation projects, initiatives and networks, farm/forestry advisors, decision-makers and administrators will jointly investigate the design and implementation of interactive innovation project approaches. Looking with the eyes of a larger number of interactive innovation initiatives we will assess the infrastructure of H2020 and Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) at the project, national and European levels. Central in the project are a 'light-touch' review of the experiences in 200 projects and initiatives, and an in-depth assessment of 32 interactive innovation project approaches in a broad range of agricultural and forestry sub-sectors and countries using a combination of Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) with other empirical methods.

LIAISON will present the diversity of projects and practices through an interactive online 'story map’ select 15 practitioners from innovation projects, the so-called Rural Innovation Ambassadors who will contribute to the project's analyses and outcomes. LIAISON will produce practice-ready tools, methods and protocols, co-designed in processes involving the target users themselves (e.g. farmers and policy-makers) and that support more inclusive forms of research and action. An Interactive Online System will help innovation actors to access these. It will include participatory tools for co-creation and co-learning, networking tools, tools for communication and dissemination, impact assessment tools, and methodologies and tools for self-evaluation.

Coordinator

Hochschule für Nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde – Policies and Markets Group (HNEE) (Germany)

Other participants

• Stichting Groep van Brugge - Independent Network on European Agricultural and Rural Development Policy (GdB) (Netherland)
• Highclere Consulting SRL (Highclere) (Romania)
• Boerenbond Vereniging voor Innovatieve Projecten – Innovatiesteunpunt - Innovation Support Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (ISP) (Belgium)
• Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge (ISSK) (Bulgaria)
• Institut de l'Elevage – French Livestock Institute (IDELE) (France)
• Agriculture and Food Development Authority (TEAGASC) (Irland)
• Stiftelsen Norsk Senter for Bygdeforskning – Centre for Rural Research (CRR) (Norway)
• Centrum Doradztwa Rolniczego W Brwinowie – Agricultural Advisory Centre Brwinowie (AAC) (Poland)
• Forschungsinstitut für Biologischen Landbau Stiftung (FiBL) (Switzerland)
• Universidade de Évora - Institute of Mediterranean Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (ICAAM) (UÉVORA) (Portugal)
• Università di Pisa – Agriculture, Food and Environment (UNIPI)
• The Soil Association Limited (SA) (United Kingdom)
• Agrargazdasagi Kutato Intezet – Rural Development Research Department (AKI) (Hungary)
• Geography at the University of Exeter – Human Geography (UEXE) (United Kingdom)
• Eigen Vermogen van het Instituut voor Landbouw en Visserijonderzoek (EV-ILVO) - Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (Belgium)
• Universidad Politécnica de Madrid – Planning and Evaluation Group (UPM) (Spain)

GA number 773418
Start date 01/05/2018
End date 01/10/2021
Duration 42 months
Project cost 4.999.675,00 €
Project funding 4.999.675,00 €
Unipi quota 207.671,25 €
Call title H2020-RUR-2017-2
Unipi role partner

Project website: http://liaison2020.eu/