The Final Conference of the i2connect Project takes place in Varna, Bulgaria from the 1st to the 3rd of October, 2024… [06.11.24]
The final conference of the i2connect project took place from October 1st to 3rd, 2024 in Varna, Bulgaria. Over the last five years, our institute has been an active partner in i2connect, an EU Horizon 2020 project, dedicated to empowering advisors and their organizations to better support interactive innovation processes in agriculture and forestry.
Thomas Alföldi
Bringing together 42 organizations from 21 European countries, the project’s goals have been to strengthen advisors’ skills, competencies and attitudes; enhance the role of advisors in interactive innovation processes through a better understanding of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) at the national level; and create a support network and networking culture among advisors facilitating interactive innovation processes.
The final conference marked the culmination of this collaborative journey, providing an opportunity to share key project outcomes and the insights gathered along the way. The event brought together over 80 participants that included advisors, researchers, students, trainers, public authorities, etc. Representing our institute, our team members, Sangeun Bae and Andrea Knierim took an active role in the conference, presenting outcomes from the key activities they led, in particular, the update of the AKIS inventory
The three-day event offered participants a comprehensive exploration of the project’s achievements.
Day 1 set the stage with a highly engaging session on the AKIS that was facilitated by our team members, Andrea and Sangeun. Through the session, participants got to understand the AKIS concept and the importance of a well-functioning AKIS for the role of advisor. The session also included a panel discussion, where key AKIS experts from 5 partner countries - Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Ireland and Spain - got to share insights into their national AKISs, offering participants a glimpse of the diversity and complexity of the AKIS across the different countries.
Day 2 focused on practical applications of interactive innovation, where participants engaged with insights from case studies that were collected and analyzed within the project. Through these cases, participants got to reflect on the good practices identified and understand the diversity of practices in fostering interactive innovation in different contexts. A dedicated session introduced the skill and competency profile essential for innovation advisors. The afternoon session unfolded in a highly interactive format, giving participants hands-on experience with the training methods and tools developed within the project. They also gained insights from the project’s diverse training and peer-learning activities such as summer school, pilot projects, excellence classes and cross visits.
Day 3 concluded the conference with impactful testimonials from beneficiaries of the project, who shared firsthand reflections on how i2connect activities have influenced their daily work and activities within their organizations. The morning continued with a carousel presentation of the project’s key outputs, allowing participants to engage further, ask questions, and deepen their understanding of i2connect’s resources. In the afternoon, participants went on a field visit to explore four Bulgarian practical cases of interactive innovation, where they had the chance to gain insights into the challenges and successes of these initiatives.
Overall, the final i2connect conference was a huge success, with both project partners and participants expressing high levels of satisfaction. The event not only celebrated the achievements of the project in the past five years but also reinforced the importance of strengthening advisors’ skills and capacities.
