Agrobridges kicks off, a new EU project to improve farmers’ positioning in the AGRI-FOOD chain
· SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS, CTA AND IMPACT HUB MADRID ARE THE SPANISH PARTNERS OF THE AGROBRIDGES CONSORTIUM, A PROJECT THAT BRINGS TOGETHER 15 PARTNERS FROM 11 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
· THE PROJECT, FUNDED WITH €3 MILLION, WILL INVOLVE 12 beacon REGIONS AND AROUND 400 PARTICIPANTS. it IS PLANNED TO BE ROLLED OUT ACROSS THE EU THROUGH REPLICATION and TRAINING ACTIONS.
Madrid, January 19, 2021 – SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS, Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA in its Spanish acronym) and Impact Hub Madrid are participating in agroBRIDGES, an EU-funded project under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, focused on building bridges between consumers and producers by supporting short food supply chains (SFSCs) through the development of a systemic, holistic, multi-actor approach-based toolbox.
The agroBRIDGES toolbox will gather a combination of communication materials, training programmes, events, and Information Technology (IT) tools, positioning itself as the ultimate instrument that will provide practical support to producers, consumers, and distributors, improving farmers position in the value chain. To this end, the project will mobilise local farmers through SFSCs, focussing on decreasing intermediaries and their margin.
SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS, CTA and Impact Hub Madrid will work for 36 months in close collaboration with other twelve partners from eleven countries to make an ambitious contribution to the Common Agricultural Policy, unlocking the full potential of Europe’s inner wealth by placing producers as a cornerstone for boosting the European agri-food sector.
Both regional and international approaches will be considered along the project, where 12 beacon regions will be involved in the creation of this multi-actor framework, directly engaging approximately 400 people in information collection, knowledge exchange, co-creation, co-development, and validation of project outputs.
SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS, as expert in market uptake, will lead the exploitation of the project results, and will produce some of the communication materials for the agroBRIDGES toolbox, including the elaboration of e-learning materials for training programmes.
“We are glad to participate in a new project focused on the agri-food sector“, states Jesús Serrano, Deputy General Manager of SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS. “This is a key sector for the sustainable development of the European economy, in which we have been gaining expertise thanks to other projects related to the bioeconomy, such as ICT-BIOCHAIN, UrBIOfuture and BIOSWITCH, where we also collaborate with CTA.”
From its side, CTA coordinates the work package dedicated to maximising and replicating project results in Europe. It will also lead knowledge transfer actions, including the creation of a training programme for cluster managers, innovation agents and public administration
“With the participation in the agroBRIDGES project, CTA continues to support the deployment of the bioeconomy in Spain, particularly in Andalusia, as one of the sectors with the most potential to generate wealth and employment in the region,” says Nathalie Chavrier, Technical Manager of the Agri-Food Sector in CTA.
As the third Spanish consortium member, Impact Hub Madrid contributes to the development of economic, social and environmental sustainability measurement systems through social impact assessment. Moreover, Impact Hub Madrid will support the project in the dissemination of surveys, as well as in the testing of the agroBRIDGES Toolbox in Europe thanks to its extensive network: IH Network and EU Cluster. With the latter, Impact Hub Madrid will collaborate in the dissemination of the project results and in its visibility.
“For Impact Hub Madrid, the sector of sustainable food production is a priority at the moment, and the participation in the agroBRIDGES project represents the support and promotion of sustainable systems that guarantee food security and nutrition for all people. We want to contribute with our experience as an international network where different projects have already been carried out in this area”, says Leyre Romero, Head of Sustainability projects at Impact Hub Madrid.
Improving farmers’ position in the farming chain
The agroBRIDGES project proposes the development of an agri-food multi-actor framework and a set of practical support tools to improve local producers’ market positioning and decrease intermediaries’ margin. Full EU roll-out, replication and training will be conducted, supported by a strong dissemination campaign and coordination with other EU projects and initiatives, through a clustering plan.
The main expected impact in the short term will be 150 stakeholders trained on topics related to food procurement, mobilisation of innovative agri-food supply chains, and support of local producers. Meanwhile in the medium-, long-term, it is expected a 5-8% increase of farms involved in direct sales to consumers and a rise in farmers’ income thanks to the developed new SFSCs models.
About agroBRIDGES
Led by Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL, the agroBRIDGES consortium is formed by the Agriculture and Food Development Authority of Ireland, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, FruitVegetablesEUROPE, CTA, Impact Hub Madrid, Munster Technological University, Sabri REZOS BRANDS, Sustainable Innovations, Ulker Foundation, Unimos Foundation, Vegepolys Valley, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, and Wageningen University.
In total, €3 million in funding has been granted to agroBRIDGES under the European Union’s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020. For their part, the Spanish partners have received more than €500,000 in total.
About SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS
SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS is a Spanish consultancy company that provides innovative services to a wide range of sectors throughout Europe: biobased industry, renewable energy, or advanced materials, among others. The capabilities that SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS offers are structured around three main pillars that serve as a bridge between the conception of innovative ideas and the market: Innovation management, Market Uptake and Capacity Building. Our main asset is the highly qualified team of engineers, environmentalists, communication experts and business strategists who work with us.
About CTA
Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA) is a private foundation that was born from a public-private partnership. For almost 15 years, CTA has been supporting R&D activities through financing, mentoring and cooperation with main Andalusian stakeholders, emerging as a singular multi-sectorial, innovation cluster. More than 670 R&D business projects have been funded by CTA with more than €M168. Currently, CTA is owned by more than 160 companies, 70% of them SMEs, in 7 main European industrial priority sectors: ICT, Aerospace and productive processes, Agrifood, Biotechnology, Building and civil engineering, Energy and Environment, and Leisure and Tourism.
www.corporaciontecnologica.com
About Impact Hub Madrid
Impact Hub is the largest global network of entrepreneurial communities with impact, made up of 17,000 professionals and present in 100 cities around the world. Impact Hub generates collaborative work environments through spaces that host and drive innovative proposals and social transformation. In Spain, Impact Hub has a presence in Madrid, San Sebastian, Malaga, Zaragoza and Barcelona.
Impact Hub Madrid was a pioneer in the coworking sector in Spain and today has six spaces in the heart of the city dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship, with offices, shared work and leisure areas, rooms for events or meetings with clients and a variety of programmes, now converted to an online format through webinars, debates and virtual meetings. Impact Hub Madrid is the first Spanish coworking company with the seal of sustainable company B Corp.