In occasion of the first stakeholder meeting, which took place on last 9th September at Cattolica del Sacro Cuore University in Piacenza, all LIFE AGRESTIC Partners welcomed the Project stakeholders. Goals, main involvements actions in the Stakeholder Platform and expected advantages were presented.
Some of the stakeholder involved in the Project took part at this meeting. Among them Giannicola Caione, Caione Farm Company, the demonstration site in Foggia, highlighted the importance of the Project: «It’s a pleasure for me to take part on this Project and I thank all partners for their job. Innovation is the most important aim for the agricultural sector, increasingly affected by prices.»
Giampaolo Sarno, of the Emilia Romagna Region, has pointed out that: «Emilia Romagna Region perfectly agrees with the Project goals, as our Region constantly faces these themes foreseeing economical supports to the agricultural companies». For this reason the Project results must be spread to justify economic support through RDP (Rural Development Program).
The main opportunities for the Stakeholder platform members
The members of the Stakeholder Platform, companies/organizations/institutions, which accepted to take part on the activities development, on promoting networking and on spreading the results will have the following advantages:
- They are the first getting in touch with innovations;
- They can immediately give feedback about strenghth and weak aspects and supply suggestions for improvements;
- They can be constantly informed about the ongoing improvements.
The stakeholders will be directly involved with a participatory and promotional (P&P) approach. Their needs will be taken into consideration so that the suggested innovations (crop systems and DSS) can be applicable and efficacious.
Also the contribution of the platform members allows to:
- Create viable and efficacious innovations which meet the stakeholder needs;
- Increase innovation acceptance;
- Increase awareness about the problems in agriculture caused by the climate change and bettering the skills to face them and solve them efficiently;
- Increase the use of the Project results in the future;
- Create cooperation and regional partnerships to face the climate changes and favourite PES;
- Assure the possibility to use these results for other suppply chains and in other countries as well;
Further, we expect that some stakeholder categories will have peculiar advantages:
- Farmers: will be able to use the innovative models directly on the farm sustainable management, reducing emissions and contribute to reduce the impact of the agricultural activities on the climate changing;
- Agrofood companies: They’ll have high quality raw goods at disposal, saving junk and waste materials increasing good company’s practises and the label value. Consequently a reduction of the negative aspects of the climate change;
- National and regional Institutions: will improve the agricultural politics bettering, adjusting, and updating them on the basis of these new sceneries and innovation tools;
- Consumers: will count on healthy and safe food from a sustainable process.
Actively participate in the co-development of activities
The Stakeholder Platform participants will be asked to:
- Supply suggestions / feedback about the innovative rotations and on improved DSS for each crop. The final results of the used DSS on the demonstration sites will be presented at the end of each working season;
- Supply suggestions / feedback on the functionality of the innovative DSS for the management of cropping systems and on benefits in the different supply chains;
- Talk about the potentiality and interest in product label and on the new payment schemes of the ecosystem services (PES);
- Debate on innovative agricultural politics relevant to the climate change using the ecosystem services (PES);
- Investigate the socio-economic impact of the innovations proposed in the Project;
- Discuss on advantages / economical returns thanks to the innovations in the different supply chains. Assesing the possibility to transfer these progresses to other supply chains and to other European countries;
- Supply information on KPIs, LCA and on socio-economic;
- Collect needs and peculiar questions on new legume varieties and catch crop;
- Presentation of screening results on genotypes;
- Promote networking and result spreading.
8 meetings will settle the basis of all these points. They’ll take place in the Demonstrations Sites in Ravenna, Pisa and Foggia during the entire Project period.
The on-field visits and training course
The Stakeholder Platform members, such as local stakeholders, will be invited to take part to 9 on field visits, at the demonstration sites (one full day each season and per each site).
During the on-field visits UCSC, HORTA and SSSA will present: the project; on-field demonstrations; the improved DSS for the single crops and for the catch crops; the DSS to manage the crop system (when available); the prototype monitoring GHG emissions, in order to underline strength aspects and sectors of the system to be improved. They’ll call for debate on these themes.
At the end of each on-field visit, there will be the opportumity to debate with the representatives of farmers’ associations (and any other associations) what and how they can share with their associates about the Project contents and the results seen during the visit. One of the on-field visits will be organized by ISEA and will be open to all Stakeholder Platform members and to all interested stakeholders. ISEA will make the phenotyping tests of the new legume varieties and catch crop (C1 action). Feedback on the agronomic and market potentiality of the considered genotypes will be collected.
A 2 days course will be organized. This will be addressed to the Italian stakeholders, interested to know and adopt the proposed innovations.
During the course the DSS for crop systems will be fully described (necessary input, output understanding, advantages using DSS, etc). Participants will learn how to use it.
The product label will be presented. A short video about the on-field tests during the Project and the DSS use will be shown.
