This seminar was organized by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI), and the European Innovation Partnership EIP-AGRI Service Point, targeting national Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) as part of the post-2020 CAP strategic plans.

The promotion and exchange of knowledge and innovation are part of the cross-cutting objective of modernization in the post-2020 CAP. Similarly, these actions play a key role in helping farmers and rural communities face current and future challenges, generating a growing demand for innovative solutions that renew products, processes, and services. To achieve greater impact, these solutions must be created through the cooperation of appropriately trained personnel and, also, by farmers and foresters, as end users of the results obtained, so that they can be efficiently applied to rural areas. This model of co-creation of innovative solutions has been established in the current period and brings together research, innovation, and knowledge exchange under the Horizon 2020 program and under the CAP with EIP-AGRI, with its more than 1,200 Operational Groups (OGs). All of them will continue in the upcoming period, 2021-2027.

Regarding national and regional AKIS, the challenge is to increase their interconnection so that innovative solutions can be effectively generated. Currently, a significant amount of knowledge is available, but it is fragmented across different countries and insufficiently applied.

A well-functioning AKIS will accelerate innovation across the EU, avoid duplication of work, deliver cost savings, and strengthen the impact of regional, national, and European Research and Innovation (R&I) funding by facilitating cross-border knowledge transfers.

The overall objective of the seminar is to provide support to Member States in the preparation of their AKIS Strategic Plans and to promote the efficient exchange of agricultural knowledge across the EU. It will focus on the exchange of experiences and showcase inspiring examples of how to organize and support the creation and exchange of agricultural knowledge among the various AKIS stakeholders. It will provide an opportunity to meet Member State administrations and other AKIS stakeholders through various debates and exchanges of experiences on drafting Strategic Plans and planning AKIS actions.