Knowledge Transfer & Innovation Gateway

Research, knowledge transfer and innovation are important drivers of rural development and their importance is set to grow as they are at the heart of the Europe 2020 strategy which targets smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Horizon 2020 will be a key tool in implementing the Innovation Union flagship initiative.
During the programming period 2014-2020, Innovation will become a cross-cutting priority for rural development policy. An important policy instrument to support this priority is the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI).

 

The EIP-AGRI

The EIP-AGRI is a new approach to boosting innovation in European agriculture and forestry. Launched in 2013, the EIP-AGRI aims to build bridges between science and practice, in particular through practical innovation projects, carried out by Operational Groups (funded under the Rural Development policy), through practice-oriented research projects and through networking activities. 

The EIP-AGRI is based on existing policies, most notably the Rural Development policy and the EU research and innovation policy Horizon 2020. The success of the EIP-AGRI relies on people across the whole supply chain and from the scientific community working together and sharing their ideas and experiences in order to develop innovative solutions and research results ready for application. The EIP-AGRI therefore focuses on forming partnerships, using bottom-up approaches and linking all actors together in a network.

The practical work of facilitating the network is carried out by the EIP-AGRI Service Point, a multinational team of 20 experts who organise focus groups, workshops, and seminars, collect and disseminate of research and innovation results and operate a help desk for people looking for agricultural research results and innovation projects, funding opportunities, potential partners or simply want to know what is happening on the ground.

In 2014, the EIP-AGRI website will be transformed into a new interactive innovation platform with project databases, partner search, collaborative workspaces for specific innovation topics and an overview of funding opportunities for innovation projects.

If you would like to stay updated on what is happening in the EIP-AGRI, you can subscribe to the monthly e-newsletter here. You can also follow @EIP-AGRI_SP on Twitter or join the LinkedIn group.

 

ENRD Focus Group on Knowledge Transfer and Innovation

Launched in June 2012 by the ENRD Coordination Committee, the Focus Group (FG) analysed how Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) support Knowledge Transfer & Innovation (KT&I) in practice under the current 2007-2013 policy framework. The FG provided recommendations to Member States about how to promote KT&I in the next 2014-2020 programming period. It also explored how the EIP-AGRI can effectively promote KT&I through the RDPs and what the role of National Rural Networks and advisory services could be in, for instance, facilitating the emergence of EIP operational groups. The FG was composed of representatives from EU Member States’ national administrations, National Rural Networks, as well as EU organisations and academics.

Outcomes

The findings and recommendations which emerged from the work carried out during the Focus Group activities are presented in the documents below:

  • Phase 1 Report of the Focus Group on Knowledge Transfer & Innovation [PDF ]
    • - Annex 1 – Collection of examples supporting KT&I [PDF ]
    • - Annex 2 – Background Paper [PDF ]
  • Phase 2 Report on successful innovation brokerage [PDF ]
    • - Annex - Study Material & Information [PDF ]
  • Phase 2 Report on EIP Operational Groups [PDF ]

 

Summary of the Phase 1 Report of the Focus Group on Knowledge Transfer & Innovation [PDF ]
   
Summary of the Phase 2 Report on successful innovation brokerage [PDF ]
   
Summary of the Phase 2 Report on EIP Operational Groups [PDF ]