Interactive Innovation: The role of different actors in co-creating knowledge, sharing and exploiting it at best Parallel Session 6 Networking as a way to support interactive innovation Using the example EIP Agri Dr. Hanns-Christoph Eiden President of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food, Bonn Designing the path – A strategic approach to EU agricultural research & innovation Brussels, January 26 th – 28 th, 2016

Networking for innovation - What has to be taken into account? To become aware when, how and why does innovation happen. There must be... a)...an existing problem, question or lack that claims a change of behaviour or common practice. b)...the ability to identify the problem/lack and to develop first ideas about its reasons. c)...the ability and potential to test and clarify these ideas in a professional way/experiment/project. d)...the result of the experiment/project must be an innovative technology or process. => The innovation must finally lead to a chance of common practice in a wide area of application by new behaviour or use of new technology.

It is about - breaking the big challenges down to concrete issues, - bringing a group together, committed to find a solution. Networking for innovation - The importance of interaction

Building up a network to support interactive innovation under EIP Agri Operational Groups (OG) within an European Innovation Partnership as such is an approach to create interactive innovation. Partners with different backgrounds work together in an innovative project (one group = one project). The OG is a germ cell, where knowledge is created and exchanged. The results of the project must be of practical use for farmers, address their needs and must also regard the transfer into practice. Networking is an element of interactive innovation at 4 stages: a)Establishing the OG. b)Support OG work in progress. c)Dissemination of the results. d)Link partners and themes of OG to EIP Agri under Horizon 2020 and to other research institutions/networks.

Building up a network to support interactive innovation under EIP Agri a)Establishing the OG with its specific project. “Big scale”- Networking: Seminars about the EIP Agri to inform potential actors and encourage them to form a OG. Workshops about specific EIP-themes to find appropriate partners. Organized by the managing authorities in the programming areas and by the innovation-facilitaters (IF) and the National EIP Agri Network Unit since “Small scale”- Networking: Direct contact of IF to farmers and farmers´ organisations to identify the specific problems and develop ideas of farmers that might lead to an innovative project. Matching partners by the IF. comment: A close connection between IF and advisors was very successful in Germany to find promising practice orientated themes.

Building up a network to support interactive innovation under EIP Agri b)Support OG´s work in progress General support to run the OG. Workshops about “how file an application”. Events for OGs and leadpartners in one programming area to exchange experience. Workshops for IF for knowledge-exchange and capacity- building (since 2015) offer thematic Workshop for all OG in Germany (probably not before 2017) c)Dissemination of the project´s results. provide an EIP Agri free-access database with all OG-projects in Germany (soon) offer excursions to OG projects to everybody (autumn 2016) report about EIP-projects in media d)Motivate actors to link Horizon 2020 and Rural Development link Multi actor projects / thematic network (Horizon 2020) to OG link ERA-NET projects to OG

Rural Development Funding of OG, knowledge exchange and consultancy, value chains, environmental protection and resource efficiency, rural development Operational Group controlled by regions Horizon 2020 EU research funding / instruments for EIP – Multi Actor Projects & Thematic Networking … Focus topics, provision of funds, cross-boarder projects (ERA-NETs, at least 3 Member States) Controlled by EU topics, demand of expertise, research needs results, consultancy, prototypes/ procedures tests Practice Advisers / consultants Research Vision A vision to bridge Horizon 2020 and Rural Development

Network-structure to support EIP Agri in Germany Work-Group EIP Agri authorities (13 programming areas) Work-Group Innovation- facilitaters National EIP Agri Network Unit (BLE) ( part of the National Rural Network Unit) BLE internal Exchange 13 Regional Authorities (Länder) (programming areas) BMEL (National Ministry of Agriculture) Innovations-Facilitator in the Länder National Level Regional Level EU Level EIP Agri - ServicepointEU RD exchange Horizon 2020 BLE Unit for European Research Affairs BMEL

First experiences in Germany I: It needs time,  to bring the right partners together to find a common language and to build trust long-term perspective?  It doesn't work without facilitations. There is a need for a permanent structure and platform, which encourages interested parties to form an Operational Group.  The spirit of the Operational Group must be driven by a practical (and economic) rather than a scientific interest in order to find a solution that really works = is really innovative.

 There is a need for constant exchange and knowledge transfer in order to create an enabling environment for innovative approaches.  There is a need to better harmonize the approaches for innovation in the context of RD and of research policies. First experiences in Germany II:

Outcome  Spreading the concept of Precision Horticulture (DE, DK, IT, CH, ES, TR, Israel)  Building of work groups and new demonstration projects  Information exchange with industry and farmers in demonstrations  Using project outcome for new networking on regional level (EIP approach in “Länders”) and EU level (Multi actor approach)  Bachelors in horticulture with international experiences A LIGHTHOUSE Project Linking Multi-Actor Projects and OG´s: ERA-NET ICT-AGRI project 3D-Mosaic research consortium: Climate friendly and resource-efficient horticulture

New chances through EIP AGRI, because …  We can conduct projects according to the practice-oriented needs and to transfer ideas and results into research and practice,  we can analye, implement and adapt solution strategies to own situation, communicate transfer steps and disseminate experiences Innovation by new solutions  we can adapt existing approaches, procedures or techniques to specific needs. Innovation by knowledge exchange  we can link Rural development and Horizon 2020 Interactive Innovation by bridging instruments and funding

Parallel Session 6 Networking as a way to support Interactive Innovation Using the example EIP Agri Dr. Hanns-Christoph Eiden Thank you very much for your attention