The i2connect project aims to fuel the competencies of advisors who will support and facilitate interactive innovation processes responding to multiple challenges in European agriculture and forestry. This facilitation requires awareness, new tools and methods, motivational and organisational approaches for advisors. The strategy in i2connect is to use the existing advisor networks and the experiences of success in different contexts to create a broader network and momentum of change enabling a new culture of bottom up led innovation support. This resource of over 40,000 advisors are critical actors supporting agriculture and forestry on the ground and must be influenced in this project to support interactively innovation with particular emphasis on EIP 2020 target of 3,500 operational groups and beyond.

An inventory will be made of the current state of advisory practices in Europe, including an update and extension of the work of Pro-AKIS (2012-2014). Best Practices throughout Europe will be analysed in an interactive way to guide the development of approaches and tools, and to be studied as part of the training program for advisors. A pool of trainers will be trained to work with these materials in training and coaching advisors. Attention will also be given to the ‘enabling environment’: ways in which managers of advisory services, research actors, policy makers and others can create conditions that are conducive for interactive innovation processes. The project will support learning through courses in the main European languages. Training courses will include a period of moderated peer coaching on the job for advisors. Some advisors may join cross visit teams for studying interesting cases abroad. These activities feed into a professional network with many local branches, supported by the project through a moderated on line platform for mutual coaching and sharing experiences on themes that emerge. The network extends to actors in the enabling environment, as well as education of new advisors. . An on-line infrastructure will support communication where advisors, coaches and other experts can find each other, and share experiences. Interesting materials, analysis and stories will be made available for the outside world, for increasing awareness about what interactive innovation processes can deliver, and what it takes to facilitate such processes. i2connect brings together 32 organisations, most of them directly involved in stimulating innovation in rural areas and food systems in all corners of Europe, especially in CEE countries. The major associations of rural advisory services are partners. In the consortium 16 languages are spoken. They are committed to contribute to a continuous learning and improvement of advisory support making better use of the opportunities from EIP programme has created for bridging the gap between research and practice.