The Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) in Ireland consists of different stakeholders that implement activities and practices to support the generation and use of knowledge and innovation for sustainable agriculture and rural development. These stakeholders are leading out on as well as feeding into various initiatives occurring on national and European scales to support a better AKIS:
- Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan committed to the establishment of an AKIS Coordination Group (CG) to manage and improve the AKIS in Ireland, boosting knowledge and innovation flows for food and biobased systems and rural society. It was formed in late 2023 and comprises representatives from across agricultural sectors and rural communities, such as farmer representative groups, industry, advisory services, education, research, and media.
- Recently, CAP Network Ireland launched a survey to assess the needs of farmers in Ireland in terms of how they source knowledge, to inform the work plan of the AKIS CG. The survey was developed with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Agricultural Consultants Association, and Teagasc. It is open for responses and can be completed here.
- ModernAKIS is an EU funded project which aims to improve the coherency, efficiency and effectiveness of AKIS to achieve better governance and modernisation of the European agri-food sector. Through the activities of the project, Irish actors’ (such as the AKIS CG) will be supported in their capacity to leverage resources, to assist the transition to more sustainable future.
- The Subgroup on Innovation and Knowledge Exchange was established in October 2022 and supports the implementation of the AKIS strategic approach, facilitating networking and exchanges between AKIS actors and within EIP-AGRI projects. The Subgroup meets regularly and brings together stakeholders from agriculture, research, policy-making, and advisory services.
- The Standing Committee on Agricultural Research for AKIS (SCAR AKIS) is a strategic working group that focuses on gaps and needs in terms of research and innovation, knowledge generation, and knowledge exchange, in relation to agri-food and biomass systems in Europe.
- Several projects funded under Cluster 6 of the Horizon Europe Work Programme (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment related projects), and the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural productivity and sustainability (EIP-AGRI) are being implemented. These projects adopt multi-actor approaches that incorporate a diversity of knowledge and expertise, including practical, scientific, and technical knowledge. An important element of the development of AKIS is to ensure that project results are adopted by end-users.
- At all levels from regional, national and across the EU, efforts are currently working towards building a more effective AKIS which encompasses all individuals and organisations that generate and use knowledge and innovation for agriculture and interrelated fields. The flow of knowledge is important to address to avoid duplicating efforts, achieve cost savings, increase the impact of EU and national funding, and speed up innovation, therefore empowering the rural sector to deal with emerging challenges.
You can find out more about AKIS within the EU here, and about the Innovation Hub within CAP Network Ireland here.
