Talis Tisenkopfs

Learning and Innovation Networks for Sustainable Agriculture: Processes of Co-evolution, Joint Reflection and Facilitation

Editorial to the Special Issue on Learning and Innovation Networks for Sustainable Agriculture: Processes of Co-evolution, Joint Reflection and Facilitation. n nThere is growing recognition that the technological and organizational solutions the agricultural sector has undertaken in the past are not always compatible with the constraints and opportunities that the rural economy and society will face in the next future. This has generated an increased emphasis on transition towards new business, technological and policy models that address the challenge of sustainability. Innovation is key to transition, but the institutions that are charged with fostering innovation are often locked into old approaches and methods of intervention. The linear view of knowledge transfer as a top-down process from research to advice and practice is still predominant. nIncreasingly, this view is challenged and partly replaced by systems approaches in which agricultural producers are seen as important actors, rather than merely consumers of technologies that are generated by agricultural research and development and transferred by extension services for subsequent adoption. nSuch a systems approach has been discussed and further developed in this Journal (see e.g. the special issue 2014 (3) edited by Koutsouris and Cristovao; and Knickel et al. 2009) and in other publications, including Roling and Engel 1991; Hall et al. 2003; Sumberg and Reece 2004. The systems approach has also inspired a recent document of the EU Standing Committee of Agricultural Research (EU SCAR 2013) and many of the aspects of this approach can be found in the recent European Innovation Partnerships policy (EU Commission 2010). nThis special issue synthesizes the findings of the three year European funded research project SOLINSA ‘Agricultural Knowledge Systems in Transition: Towards a more effective and efficient support of Learning and Innovation Networks for Sustainable Agriculture’ (GA No. 266306). The special issue assembles papers that explore new ways of learning and knowledge co-production for sustainable agriculture and rural development and critically reflect the role of research and policy for supporting sustainable innovation in rural Europe. In particular, it discusses the institutional aspects of joint learning and reflection in what has been coined as Learning and Innovation Networks for Sustainable Agriculture or LINSA, and how joint learning and innovation in these LINSA has actually been supported and can be supported to further enhance sustainability.

CAP Reform and Innovation: The Role of Learning and Innovation Networks

The technological and organisational solutions the agricultural sector has undertaken in the past are not always compatible with the constraints and opportunities that the rural economy and society will face in the future. There is growing agreement that the goal of sustainability cannot be fulfilled without a profound change in the way the economy is organised. Innovation policies are among the most suitable instruments for this purpose. The article, based on the SOLINSA conceptual framework, adopts a network approach to innovation policies. Based on empirical evidence collected from case studies across Europe in the first phase of the project, the paper proposes the concept of Learning and Innovation Networks for Sustainable Agriculture (LINSA). LINSA are defined as ‘networks of producers, customers, experts, Non-Governmental Organisations, Small and Medium Enterprises, local administrations and components of the formal Agricultural Knowledge System (AKS), that are mutually engaged with common goals for sustainable agriculture and rural development – cooperating, sharing resources and co-producing new knowledge by creating conditions for communication. The article proposes that LINSA be considered as policy devices – in line with the European Innovation Partnership initiative – to foster innovation in the direction of sustainability goals as advocated by Europe 2020 strategy.