Rationale
One of the tasks of the national CAP Networks is to promote and facilitate the exchange and dissemination of knowledge and innovations across the countries. As a matter of fact, they play a crucial role in interpreting and selecting the most relevant information for their Member State or region, as well as in enhancing awareness and comprehension of the funding opportunities available for cooperative innovation projects. They also contribute to capacity building for Member States administrations and of other actors involved in the implementation of CAP Strategic Plans also by organizing events that can facilitate exchanges of experience between stakeholders.
These activities are very much needed in contexts like Sweden where the AKIS is made up of a wide variety of actors, including farmers, advisory services, research institutions, universities, industry organizations, and government agencies. However, the system's complexity and lack of coordination between these groups create challenges. There is a disconnect between research institutions and practical applications, preventing innovations from reaching farmers and agribusinesses. Advisory services, though widespread, are not consistently linked to research outputs, limiting the transfer of new knowledge and technologies to the field.
Solution
Meeting places and networking events have been frequently requested to the CAP network for several years, in Sweden, to contribute to improve interactions and cooperation within the AKIS.
Meeting place AKIS (Mötesplats AKIS) are successfully organized by the Swedish CAP network, during the last five years. This is a yearly online meeting for everyone who works with the Swedish knowledge and innovation systems for agriculture (AKIS). The aim is to share knowledge about AKIS and provide updates and information about what is going on within AKIS - both in Sweden and internationally - as well as to collect needs for development to work with onwards.
In practice
The Mötesplats AKIS meeting is normally held in mid-March each year and, since the pandemic, it has been carried out online. This is greatly appreciated by participants because of the major accessibility (e.g. no travel) and flexibility in participation (e.g. coming and getting out of the meeting).
Participants are advisors, researchers, people working with policy makers, public servants and governmental bodies (e.g. Swedish Board of Agriculture and regional governments), universities and people from other organizations that work on agricultural development (e.g. green clusters).
The agenda includes about 3,30/4 hours meeting, and it is structured to enable participants to share knowledge and experiences along with networking, as follows:
- 5-minute presentations on the topical matters of the year. For example, for 2024, the update on what is ongoing under the CAP strategic plan in Sweden was the focus of Mötesplats AKIS meeting. The Swedish Agency for Agriculture, along with several knowledge hubs supported by the Strategic Plan, provided status updates and discussed their contributions to development and innovation.
- The two analytical groups within the Rural Network focused on AKIS issues were introduced, along with the new approaches involving both analytical and implementation groups.
- Open Q&A. In 2024, the discussion clarified the concept of AKIS for many participants, emphasizing the importance of a systems approach and the need for platforms and tools to facilitate effective collaboration and communication among various actors and systems. In general, many questions arose about how to avoid duplication and to use the results that already exist, the projects that have been completed and the educational concepts that were previously developed to improve the AKIS in the country.
- Panel discussion with advisers, farmers and researchers on one specific topic. For example, in 2024, participants were engaged in in a panel discussion regarding the role of advisory services from a preparedness perspective for their duly integration not the CAP strategic plan in view to contribute to strengthen the AKIS.
- Prioritization of needs about topics and issues to work on over the coming year.
For example, the discussion held during the meeting in 2024 brought out around 100 entries, that were collected and categorized by the CAP network. Particularly, expectations and needs emerged for:
- Continuous work to reduce overlap in efforts, promoting collaboration, cooperation, networking, and communication among stakeholders.
- Enhancing learning within and between organizations and systems, also by cross-functional groups with diverse skills from various segments of the food chain and regional collaboration with people who work on skills development at the County Boards around the country.
- Coordination and collaboration for joint conferences and events on themes of common interest.
- A communication platform remains relevant and in high demand, aimed at facilitating cooperation and coordination among actors.
- Building thematic networks and organizing AKIS theme meetings was made to ensure coordination and create synergies.
Normally, the number of participants is more than 100 hundred and in 2024 it raised up to 150.
Practical implications of replicability
- Schedule the meeting as part of the CAP Network action plan and rely on it capacities for organization and networking, by including a certain flexibility to follow-up it results with possible new activities.
- Periodicity and systematic review of the results and follow-up by the CAP network is essential to help familiarize potential participants with the annual Mötesplats AKIS meeting and make them aware of this valuable opportunity for engagement.
- A vast communication campaign preceding the meeting is fundamental to reach relevant stakeholders and even the hard-to-reach ones. This is done mostly by posts on the Swedish CAP network's website, in newsletter, and in social media (X, LinkedIn, Facebook).
- Advertising the agenda of the Mötesplats AKIS meeting beforehand, by requesting registration, is relevant to valuate about further promotion of the event. The registration includes the link to the meeting, the name, organization, e- mail and possible calendar booking, that renders all the registered visible.
- Sharing the presentations of the meeting is important to enable reflection upon learnings. Presenters are encouraged to make their presentations user-friendly by linking to pages and materials that participants may find useful. The presentations are sent to participants just after the meeting and published on the website of the CAP Network.
- The satisfaction survey, just after the meeting, is useful to evaluate opportunities to improve the agenda, contents and moderation of the meeting.
Benefits
- Provides easily accessible information and updates about AKIS.
- Enables dialogue and cooperation between AKIS actors.
- Over the years it increases sense of belonging and mutual recognition and trust.
- Collect and prioritize needs to work with over the coming year.
- Increases contact surfaces and networks.
- With a low budget it is possible to meet a large number of key AKIS actors and to create a networking opportunity.
Further sources of information
