Collaborating to strengthen the AKIS in EU member states [14.11.23]
The modernAKIS Project aims to improve AKIS actors’ capacities to leverage individual, organizational and systemic resources needed for the transformation towards more coherent, effective and efficient agricultural knowledge and innovation systems in the 27 European member states.
General assembly modernAKIS
To this end, a two-day event “AKIS coordination bodies general assembly” on Nov 7- 8 brought together key AKIS actors from across the 27 member states to discuss and collaborate on strengthening AKIS in EU. The comparative analysis of AKIS in EU, a recent report produced by our institute, was also presented to the participants. The report based on desk research compiled information from AKIS inventories from PRO AKIS project, i2connect project and chapter 8 of the new CAP strategic plans. The report identifies key AKIS features crucial for ensuring a well-functioning AKIS. These features are the recognised contribution of diverse actors in a country’s AKIS, AKIS supporting policy and funds in place, and coordination mechanisms that facilitate strong linkages between AKIS actors in place. For supporting the role of the new actors “AKIS coordination bodies”, the report suggests the need for the design and implementation of capacity building activities that supports their new role. The report also emphasizes the importance of:
- Tailoring the training and support of AKIS-CBs to address strategic aspects such as planning and priority setting, as well as operational tasks such as collaboration facilitation and communication.
- Taking into account the growing emphasis on collaborative efforts, and assist AKIS-CBs to develop skills to engage and align diverse actors to create a coordinated approach.
- Assist AKIS-CBs in developing skills for AKIS actor diagnosis, assessing interactions and benchmarking performance.
- Given the variation in approaches across MS, create opportunities for AKIS-CBs to learn from each other's experiences and best practices, fostering cross-border collaboration and mutual learning.
The full report is available on the project website (link)
The general assembly provided an opportunity for all relevant AKIS actor to share their one year experiences in coordinating the AKIS interventions within the new CAP plans. It also served as a platform for the participants to discuss their expectations from modernAKIS in supporting their efforts to transform their AKIS into a more effective system.
In its role as a scientific partner in modernAKIS, Hohenheim actively collaborates with project partners to enhance understanding of the AKIS concept and its implementation across member states. In addition to conducting AKIS analyses, our institute is currently developing training materials. These materials aim to build the capacity of AKIS actors, covering not only the AKIS concept but also a broader systems approach. Stay tuned for additional resources related to the upcoming training materials.
