Hi everyone,
Thanks very much to welcome me in your community.
The near future of EIP-AGRI as policy instrument is bright as you should have seen in the leagal proposals. The real challenge I see is to make sure the knowledge / innovation reachs the local farmer and he applies it being convinced it will make difference.
Connecting EIP-AGRI projects should start at regional and national levels. it happened several times that projects dealing with the same issues and from the same member states didn’t know each other. They met the first time in EIP-AGRI events at European level. Another dimension is the cross-border or macro-regional one. In many cases, the challenge/issue faced by local actors (farmers…) doesn’t stop at the border.
It should be somehow required to describe in the project application form a strategy to connect the project with other relevant initiatives during & beyond the implementation preriod.
We should consider public support as an incentive to kick off a process or an action. Without public support, concerned actors must engage in connecting the dots.
Regards,
Pacôme