1. Innovation and modernization of the rural economy 18th June 2015 Ferreira Porto Wine Cellars, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal How Regions can use the opportunities of the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability? European Regions for Innovation in Agriculture, Food and Forestry: The ERIAFF Network Fabio Boscaleri, Tuscany Region’s Brussels Liaison Office European Network of Regions for Innovation in Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ERIAFF) Session 1 The contribution of rural development policy to the modernisation of the rural economy

2. Innovation and modernization of the rural economy Index 2. The Operational Groups (OGs) of the European Innovation Partnership Agricultural productivity and sustainability (EIP AGRI) 3. The ERIAFF Network 1. Innovation in the new Rural Development policy

3. Fostering knowledge transfer and innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas is one of the 6 Union priorities for RD Role of farm advisory services in collecting innovation needs RD measures as possible leverage for innovation: Investments, Knowledge transfer, Information, Advisory services, Farm and Business development, Setting-up of producer groups and organisations, Agri-environment-climate, Cooperation, Pilot and Demo projects European Innovation Partnership (EIP) for agricultural productivity and sustainability  Operational Groups  EIP AGRI network Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

4. 2. The Operational Groups (OGs) of the European Innovation Partnership Agricultural productivity and sustainability The aims promoting a resource efficient, economically viable, productive, competitive, low emission, climate friendly and resilient agricultural and forestry sector; helping deliver a steady and sustainable supply of food, feed and biomaterials, both existing and new ones; improving processes to preserve the environment, adapt to climate change and mitigate it; building bridges between cutting-edge research knowledge and technology and farmers, forest managers, rural communities, businesses, NGOs and advisory services The Europe 2020 flagship initiative "Innovation Union" specifies European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) as a new tool for fostering innovation Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

5. The interactive innovation model focused on forming partnerships - using bottom-up approaches and linking farmers, advisors, researchers, businesses, and other actors in Operational Groups 2. The OGs of the EIP AGRI Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

6. Tools EIP Network and the EIP Service Point Focus Groups ( http://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/content/focus-groups ) http://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/content/focus-groups Operational groups Research projects: –Multi-actors –Thematic Networks Support for innovation brokers and innovation centres On-farm experiments 2. The OGs of the EIP AGRI Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

7. 2. The OGs of the EIP AGRI Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

8. What is an Operative Group? - It builds itself around a concrete innovation project targeted towards finding a solution for a specific issue - not necessarily being bound to a specific territory (interregional, cross-border dimension) or an upfront fixed strategy - project implementation may be short (less than 7 years) OGs are action and result oriented “hands-on” groups (no balanced representation needed) to maximise interaction for co-creation and cross- fertilisation. OGs are a mixture of actors from possibly very different territories and in principle only exist for the aim of execution of the project. 2. The OGs of the EIP AGRI Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

9. Setting up Operational Groups General requirements: Presentation of a plan on expected outcomes Communication of results via the EIP Network (dissemination) Prioritizing within RD programmes Eligibility criteria Selection criteria Position within RD Programmes Relating to Priority 1 (Innovation & Knowledge Transfer) Agricultural character of EIP actions (Art. 61) Relationship to other "operational groups" and LAGs Funding Operational Groups (Rural Development) Establishment of operational groups (Art 36) Funding for projects (Art 36 (6)) Investment aid in context of EIP (Art 18 (3)) Animation and support for setting up operational groups: - technical assistance (Art 55 (2)) - animation (Art 36 (5)) - advisory services (Art 16 (1)) Opportunities for Regions: - Increasing the contribution level of the EU funding (possible top up of +20%) - Cross-border dimension of OGs (EU value – impact on Horizon 2020) - Synergies with other Regional, National and European tools (ERDF, ESF, etc…) EC Guideline for programming innovation in Rural Development 2. The OGs of the EIP AGRI Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

10. Select common innovation priorities and act as promoters of close collaborations among their Operational Groups and other Regional Stakeholders Develop a joint activity programme to support, maximize and add value to ERIAFF partners individual regional strategies in the field of rural research, development and innovation 3. The ERIAFF Network ERIAFF Partners are committed to: ERIAFF Network is a platform to support EU Regions. It’s based on voluntary contribution by adherent Regions. It’s free of charge and without any statutory arrangement. Develop cross-border collaboration among Operational Groups Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

11. 34 members + 22 observers from 12 Member States (AT, DE, ES, FI, FR, HR, IT, LV, NL, PL, SE, UK) + Collaboration with other Networks: ERRIN, AREPO, AREFLH, NEREUS, CPMR, EUROMONTANA 3. The ERIAFF Network Member Regions 1.Alto Tâmega 2.Andalusia 3.Aquitaine 4.Aragon 5.Basilicata 6.Baviera 7.Bretagne 8.Pays de la Loire 9.Campania 10.Castilla y Leon 11.Catalogna 12.Centre 13.Dubrovnik-Neretva 14.Emilia-Romagna 15.Euskadi 16.Extremadura 17.Flevoland 18.Istria 19.Liguria 20.Limbourg Observer Regions 1.Poitou-Charentes 2.Nord-Pas de Calais 3.Zemgale Planning 4.Lodz 5.Rhone-Alpes 6.Lombardia 7.Martinique 8.Guadeloupe 9.Piemonte 10.Abruzzo 11.Auvergne 12.Lazio 13.Northern Ireland 14.Noord-Holland Province 15.Provincia Autonoma di Trento 16.Scottisch Government 17.Highlands and Islands 18.North Savo 19.Region Värmland 20.Region Ostergotland 21.Upper Austria 22.Staffordshire County Council 21.Marche 22.North Karelia 23.PACA 24.Picardie 25.Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano / Sudtirol 26.Puglia 27.South Ostrobothnia 28.Satakunta 29.Sicilia 30.Toscana 31.Umbria 32.Wales 33.Veneto 34.Zuid-Holland Province Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

12. 3. The ERIAFF Network Workshop 4: How to encourage and manage cross regional/border co-operation? ERIAFF is a Platform for improving the EIP efficiency ERIAFF can help creating synergies among EU territories and Institutional Organisms/Bodies which operate on RD ERIAFF Regions can become a EU demonstrator for matching priorities and testing administrative arrangements for Operational Groups (among Regions which act as RD OP Managing Authorities). ERIAFF Network has the potential for becoming a tool for testing administrative and innovative solutions at cross-border level

13. 3. The ERIAFF Network Past events -ERIAFF Launching event – 19 September 2012, Florence -Political meeting with the European Commission and a promotional reception with European Stakeholders – 19 February 2013, Brussels -2 ERIAFF Conferences – Brussels (2013) and Seinäjoki (2014) (website)website -Inform-Prioritize-Collaborate: Cooperation of Regions on innovation in forest management, use of wood and forest-related services – 20 May 2014, Brussels (website)website -Regional cooperation for innovation on water management in horticulture, 18 March 2015, Brussels (website)website -Boosting economic growth and facilitating investments through the bioeconomy: how to build effective regional strategies? 20 March 2015, Brussels (website)website + brokerage and project development meetings. Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

14. 3. The ERIAFF Network Upcoming activities -2nd edition of the Joint ERIAFF/EFI/CEPF/EUROMONTANA/EUSTAFOR Workshop on Forest-based innovation (Brussels, 24 November 2015) -ERIAFF Conferences 2015 (Extremadura, October - tbc) -Project development and brokerage meetings and events Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

15. 3. The ERIAFF Network ERIAFF priorities to foster innovation Governance related Associate applied research with the agricultural practice Facilitate the entrance of young farmers Encouraging lifelong education Energy related Programmes on co-generation (utilization of agricultural waste by biogas to produce electricity and heat production) Control of energy consumption/production Food related Increasing the effectiveness of input use in production / accurate control technologies in the food production chain, e.g. Precision Farming Increase the production of organic food Animal welfare without losing competitiveness New collaboration schemes among associations/producers for entering new markets or developing new products Development of product and service innovation processes Innovation and modernization of the rural economy

16. Thank you for the attention fabio.boscaleri@regione.toscana.it Innovation and modernization of the rural economy