Innovation brokering and links between Rural

Development and the Research policy (Horizon 2020)

Inge Van Oost DG AGRI

Health and Consumers

The European Innovation Partnership (EIP) „Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability“

Moving Innovation in Agriculture Ahead !

Innovation brokering and the links between Rural Development and Research policy

26 June 2013 - EIP Seminar "Innovation Programming" – Madrid

Inge Van Oost - DG Agriculture and Rural Development

1. Innovation brokering

"The EIP aims at a flexible and open system for the creation of a

multiplicity of operational groups"

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What is Innovation brokerage?

Why? Capturing bottom-up ideas: to help setting up a multiplicity of operational groups from the grass-roots level around concrete projects

An "innovation broker" is an person that could help getting an innovation project started by acting as a go-between. The broker is not necessarily involved in the actual innovation project: he helps single actors which might have difficulties in finding partners.

Innovation brokerage can be supported under RDPs. Different approaches for OGs may be useful e.g. vouchers etc ("coffee money").

(e.g. of an innovation broker: 500 for small project till 12.000 euro for very big projects )

Company selling

bacteria products

A farmer

Innovation support centre

Researchers VITO (environm)

ILVO (agric)

Ammonia reducing pig stable

group

An example of an Operational Group which started via innovation brokering:

Project ”Ammonia reducing pig stable" (BE)

Project objective: develop a pig stable reducing ammonia emissions by 50 % in a more cost-efficient way than existing stable systems (idea from a farmer, brokered by the Innovation Support Centre)

Innovation brokering focuses on:

- discovering innovative ideas,

- articulation of demands,

- connecting partners,

- finding funding, and

- preparing a project proposal on which all actors want to engage and agree that it will bring what they expect to be a targeted solution or the development of an opportunity

(produce "self-sustaining" innovation)

“Innovation” = ideas put into practice with success

If through the innovation brokering a good innovation project plan is born - whoever is the broker or the funder - it will have a better chance of passing a selection process for innovation projects from whatever funding source.

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What is the task of an innovation broker? Innovation guidelines (RDC 20 Feb 2013) last paragraph p.7 on 100 % bottom-up innovation projects under Rural Development

Criteria can be related to:

relevance of the project for actors and end-users* (self sustaining)

targeted composition of the partners in view of co-creation* (for that particular project objective)

quality & quantity of knowledge exchange & cross-fertilisation

demonstrating competences on state of play/avoiding repetition

easy understandable & long-term communication effect

(*evidence from examples collected by the KT & I focus group (ENRD)

Make a good interactive innovation project plan

The innovation broker process:

acting as a mediator

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Finding the idea & refine it

Searching for adequate partners

Searching for possible support program

Starting up an innovation project & team

A close connection of the innovation broker with agriculture is important

In case the project gets funded,

the innovation broker could also be involved in the

project to help facilitating and

finishing it, but this is not necessarily the case

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Finding the idea & refine it

Searching for adequate partners

Searching for possible support program

Innovation project plan & operational group

(Coordinating the progress of the project)

(Communicating the project results)

2. "Horizon 2020" Research policy 2014-2020

Multi-actor projects and Thematic networks to boost innovation

as discussed in the SCAR AKIS CWG

EIP Implementation via the

European Union Research Policy (Horizon 2020)

• Research projects enhancing the knowledge base

• Support for practice-oriented formats such as multi-actor projects, and support for innovation brokers, innovation centres, and thematic networks, including on-farm experiments

• Calls for proposals via work programmes (at least 3 independent legal entities from 3 Member States or associated countries)

•Horizon 2020 legal base:

• - A “multi-actor approach" "will ensure the necessary cross-fertilising interactions between researcher, businesses, farmers/producers, advisors and end-users".

• - "The impact and dissemination of research results will be actively supported through specific actions on communication, knowledge exchange and the involvement of various actors all along the projects.“

•This approach fully matches with the concept of RD Operational Groups under the EIP interactive innovation model

Multi-actor projects and Thematic networks under Horizon 2020

• Important features of multi-actor projects:

• 1. Relevance of the research object for end-users (importance of subject, demand driven, complementarity, creativity, absorption capacity…)

• 2. Targeted composition of the partnership of actors (coverage of partners, complementarity, adequacy, …)

• 3. Refining of possible solutions: knowledge exchange and cross-fertilisation actions during the project (actions generating co-ownership)

• 4. Short-term dissemination (via involvement of actors & end-users, expertise and track record of actors, translation)

• 5. Long-term dissemination (output and outreach, easy accessible and understandable)

Multi-actor projects under Horizon 2020

Thematic networks: can connect OGs and actors in other EU MS around specific themes of common interest

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Features of Thematic networks - Horizon 2020

• Projects involving all concerned stakeholders (researchers,

farmers, advisors, enterprises, education, NGOs, administration,

regulatory bodies…): no pure research networks

• Stocktaking, mapping and state-of-the-art of existing

scientific knowledge & best practices: what do we have/what

do we miss to make used

• Projects must develop end-user material to facilitate the

discussion on, sharing and dissemination of knowledge in an easy

accessible way: input for education and a database for end-

users (long term availability of results in a common format)

Thematic networks under Horizon 2020

• Themes can be be linked to sectors, e.g. arable crops, fruit&veg,

pig,…) or subjects, e.g. crop rotation, certain farming practices,

energy, eco-system services, social services, biobased products,

short supply chains,…or etc…? (see SCAR AKIS WG report )

• As they bring together possible actors, thematic networks may

help the connecting of EU Operational Groups and the

building of multi-actor projects

• Projects may possibly link to demonstration or pilot (?)

"Application

abstracts"

A Swedish example:

Online database

1 430 projects and growing

Project facts, summaries

and reports

Available to researchers,

advisors, farmers and

everyone else

Thematic networks … may generate

To an

„Agriculture of Knowledge“ …..

Connect for added value, so…… Join the EIP

Thank you for your attention!

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/eip/index_en.htm

See the presentation on brokering in the AGRI research and innovation 7 March 2012 Kick-off event on

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/events/research-conference-2012_en.htm

Inge.Van-Oost@ec.europa.eu