<< Background >>The agricultural sector in Europe faces a broad array of challenges that threaten the functions it provides, its stability but also its survival. Diverse and heterogeneous risks are inherent in European agriculture (European Commission, 2017), especially those concerning environmental factors leading to production losses, such as extreme climatic conditions, local weather events and crop/animal diseases. However, there are also risks related to changes in trade policy, social preferences and markets behaviour (i.e., volatility of prices, financial & macroeconomic factors, competition, other sectors connection…) (Agricultural Markets Task Force, 2016), as well as non-standard threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Production losses, logistics issues and unfavourable market prices may unfold into farms’ income fluctuations and may result into farm closure. Unpredictable price movements, foremost changes in volatility, also discourage farmers to invest in productivity improvements (European Commission, 2017) that, in the long run, might improve the farm profitability and resilience.It is clear that the typical farms are missing the holistic Risk Management perception for their overall business entity and operations (a principle well known, understood, adopted and embedded in the governance of a typical business enterprise in most other sectors). The modern, global, open, digitalized, continuously transforming and competitive business scenery of which Farmers and their business are also part of, requires that they must become familiar and competent with the overall spectrum of risks related to their business and adopt a methodological approach and ways to manage these. At the same time, strategic and investment decisions have to be constantly evaluated. It is therefore required that Farmers are properly trained and educated in order to learn, adopt and embed holistic Risk Management as a business standard practice. The need is clear for a fit-for-purpose Risk Management Methodology – FaRMER Resilience Methodology, as proposed by this project – that addresses the whole spectrum of needs of the typical Farmer business. This methodology (a) addresses the baseline theory and (b) provides an implementation process for any Farmer to deploy risk management in their business. It is also required to provide the Farmers the approach to study, understand, learn and become competent on the subject and methodology (so, as a next step to be able to successfully implement it in their business and daily operations).More to the above, the typical Farmer educational background may vary from elementary School degree to PhD, therefore, the specific methodology to be developed, should be accessible, understandable and adoptable by farmers regardless their educational background.All theoretical and practical materials, as well as the tools and the overall approach should be modern, accessible by all, easily updated, available everywhere and in several languages. Therefore, the utilization of internet and online access to the methodology, material, training and related (educational and deployment) tools is also a key need that will be addressed through for this project. For the training module to be successful, it should not focus entirely on Farmers (in both materials and dissemination actions), but also engage Agricultural associations and cooperatives as well as consultants and SMEs, that could assist their members (and clients) to access the knowledge and utilize the methodology for their benefit. The outcome, in order to be holistic, should be the result of a combined effort and contribution of all field stakeholders (Agricultural experts, Consultants on Risk Management, VET providers, Technology firms and of course Farmers), as per our team engaged in this project.<< Objectives >>The key objectives of this project are:•Empower farmers’ risk culture and perception in a plain risk language easily comprehensible from all individuals working in the agri-food sector regardless of their educational background.•Enhance target groups’ resilience, productivity, and competitiveness through the evolution of their risk management competence and capabilities in relation to their business operations and management. •Develop analytical, cross-referencing and deductive reasoning skills of Farmers to help them navigate through the complexities and ever-changing nature of Farming business;•Provide a Point of Reference as an integrated fit-for-purpose approach for Business Resilience and Risk Management for Farmers.•Provide relevant associations, cooperatives and agricultural consultants the tools to assist their members and / or clients – that is, the farmers - enhance their knowledge, maturity and capability to deal with the risks of the environments their business are exposed to.•Provide all the tools required for this integrated approach by preparing the following project outcomes (as part of a joint effort of all related stakeholders):a.The FaRMER Resilience Methodology (including the Risk Management context and deployment methodology for the specific sector)b.The FaRMER Course (training curriculum) c.The “Score-My-Resilience” tool, a Self-Evaluation tool for Farmers to assess their subject competenced. The FaRMER online platform to provide access to the aforementioned materials.•Utilize digital and online tools to provide open access to the project’s materials and disseminate these results.•Assist Farmers to not only be familiar with but also adopt and utilize digital technologies as part of their business, helping them identify, assess, evaluate, monitor and control risks through the use of fit-for-purpose digital tools.• To provide access to all Europe Farmers ensuring outcomes are multilingual (limited as of this project budget to the languages of the participating partners).<< Implementation >>FaRMER consortium will implement the following activities:•Prior to submission the consortium will:oBe formulated;oConduct research to define the problem;oIdentify and analyse the needsoConduct an overall project planning•When the project will be contracted and launched:oAgricultural University of Athens (AUA) will develop a Project Excellence Plan (PEP) as the Coordinator, which will set the main management tools and procedures;oTOURNIS will develop the Risk Management Plan as part of the Excellence Plan which will serve as a risk management tool stipulating the main risks to the project activities, based on internal and external context;oAUA will develop the Project Work Plan (as part of PEP), which will serve as a main time management tool, containing the schedule of activities, task assignments and responsibilities and relevant deadlines;oAUA will establish the financial reporting mechanism with 6-month progress reports, which will be mandatory for partners in order to receive next installment;oConsulai will develop the Sharing, Promotion & Use Plan (SPUP), which will serve as the main guideline for effective communication and dissemination with project target groups and stakeholders;oTOURNIS will develop the Quality Plan, which will serve as a main quality assurance tool;oFaRMER consortium will plan thoroughly the results development including methodologies, templates and guidelines for execution of activities related to the respective result;oFaRMER consortium put the plan out for the relevant parties for realization & Execution of planned activities for each result;oAUA will monitor and measure the processes according to the plan, policies, objectives and requirements, Internal evaluation (peer reviews by all partners; assessment by QM leader) & External evaluation (pilot tests with target groups);oEach Project Result Leader will assign to relevant Partner the implementation of of corrective actions (refinements) based on the conclusions from performed external and internal evaluations;•Project Closure – The consortium will implement the following activities:oFinal reporting, and guaranteeing post project developments and actions;oPerforming targeted dissemination via organizing national project multiplier events in each partner country and the final conference in Greece;oPlanning of resources and actions to ensure sustainability of the project results after its end;oCarrying out the last project meeting;oPreparation of final report on project implementation;<< Results >>FaRMER will produce the following results:a)FaRMER Resilience Framework – The consortium will develop a Risk Management Methodology (a rigorous and holistic methodology) for assessing and managing agricultural risks taking into consideration the special context of EU countries and especially in rural and remote areas. Fundamental principles of international standards as of ISO 31000:2018 (Risk Management), ISO 22301:2019 (Business Continuity Management System) and ISO 22316:2017 (Security and resilience — Organizational resilience) as well as Best Practises and guidelines on the subject will be utilized to ensure the quality of the outcomes, customized to the needs and peculiarities of Agriculture sector to produce a step-by-step methodological framework to build farms’ resilience. Specifically, the Methodology will include the following steps:1.Establishing the context - defining the external and internal parameters of farms to be taken into account when managing risks2.Risk Assessment (Identification – Analysis – Evaluation of threats jeopardizing the existence of farmer)3.Risk Treatment 4.Communication and Consultation5.Monitoring and Reviewb)FARMER Course - Develop a training curriculum divided into individual learning modules (Threat Identification, Risk Management Strategy and Risk Management Policy), covering the whole spectrum of knowledge and competence on Risk Management in Agriculture operations and management as well as the use of digital tools to control and ultimately mitigate risks.c)Score My Resilience (SMR) - Development of Self-Evaluation Tool for assessing Farmers’ overall competence capability and skills on understanding, assessing and managing risks.d)FaRMER Pilot Study - FaRMER Pilot Study will serve as a trial run of the FaRMER Resilience Framework (PR2) to ensure that the developed methodological framework is of high quality, realistic, efficient and cover the needs of the target group. Through the results of the Pilot study we will determine the feasibility of FaRMER Resilience Framework by testing the methods we designed.e)Development of FARMER Online Platform in order to have the training content from the above results organized in a single location and accessed by target groups on an individual basis.

Europe faces huge and urgent challenges of increasing crop productivity whilst reducing use of synthetic fertilisers and nutrient losses. This proposal is to establish a self-sustaining, multi-actor, Thematic Network called “NUTRI-CHECK NET” that builds farm-level adoption of best field-specific nutrient management practices across Europe. In nine countries farmers’ Crop Nutrition Clubs (CNC) will identify and share the nature of their uncertainties about crop nutrition, their challenges and barriers to change. Decision-systems and nutrition tools (including commercial products, services, and recent research outputs) will be assembled by national experts from across Europe, including leading farmers, into a common online NUTRI-CHECK NET platform. CNCs will then evaluate effectiveness of new protocols and tools selected from the a toolbox to meet their main challenges. Thence they will co-create and adopt farm- and field-specific ‘measure-to-manage’ approaches that address their crop nutrition challenge(s). Evaluations of protocols and tools by farmers and experts will address their ease of use, trustworthiness, costs, and benefits. Initial and final evaluations will be shared across the Network to define ‘best practices’, which will be demonstrated and disseminated widely, including through liaison with other relevant Thematic Networks and EIP-AGRI. The toolbox and best practices will be held accessible and improvable in perpetua on EU FarmBook. Widespread adoption of ‘measure-to-manage’ or ‘check-to-change’ approaches to crop nutrition will enhance nutrient recycling and crop productivity, whilst reducing synthetic fertiliser use and nutrient losses across Europe.

COCOREADO is a project designed to rebalance the position of the farmer as an individual actor, as a key player in innovative food supply chains and as a supplier for public procurement. Based on the multi-actor approach and a deep understanding of agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKIS), the project applies a three-fold approach to maximize impact, relying on ambassadorship, good practices, and a focus on youth. COCOREADO will foster opportunities for young people in rural areas to co-create innovative solutions that overcome current hurdles for farmers and respond to consumer needs, while simultaneously improving the conditions for sustainable public procurement of local and seasonal food. The consortium connects key youth actors including young farmers, college youth, youth movements in an environment that offers support and encouragement to undertake action. A key tool for creating such environment is the COCOREADO Ambassador Training Program. Furthermore, the project involves both academic and close-to-farmers partners across Europe, recognising regional differences and barriers in terms of replicability of good practices and regional opportunities in terms of solutions. Active youth engagement in co-creating solutions remains at the core of the well balanced consortium including three EU-level youth organisations, and is embedded within COCOREADO’s methodologies, thus ensuring that innovative supply chains remain future-proof. COCOREADO starts with the collection of innovative initiatives that enhance the position of the farmers and improve their connection with consumers. Good practices will be assessed for their replicability and translated into educational materials. Furthermore, user-friendly decision support tools with high potential will be made accessible. Communication and dissemination of good practices and tools will focus on farmers, rural communities, policy makers, actors in the food chain such as chefs and local food processors.

The EU Farm to Fork strategy, which is at the heart of the European Green Deal, aims to make food systems fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly. To achieve the objectives of the Farm to Fork strategy, the Commission proposed, among other, new targets to reduce the use and risks of pesticides (RURP). The main objective of AdvisoryNetPEST is to establish and upgrade a network of advisory services across the EU, increasing the knowledge sharing between advisors, and among the whole AKIS, and the adoption of innovative solutions to RURP by farmers. The project will achieve this by: 1) Developing a EU network of advisors to RURP, based on existing networks and national AKIS, covering the 27 EU Members States (MSs) and the UK. To cover all MSs, the project will adopt a twinning approach: 14 National Networks will be created by the project partners, and these will engage with 14 Associated Networks through a twining program. The network will cover all European pedo-climatic areas, integrating four EU regional clusters and the most relevant crop sectors. 2) Identifying, selecting, and shaping Novel Approaches (NAs), which are technically, economically, socially, and environmentally viable, that will be adapted and replicated across the EU. 3) Exchanging knowledge and training advisors and students to promote the adoption of the NAs. 4) Connecting the project with other national and EU projects, initiatives and policy makers. 5) Scaling up the NAs, fostering the adoption of innovative solutions by farmers and the whole value chain. The project will embrace a multi-actor approach, gathering 19 partner organisations with a vast experience in advisory and crop protection. The consortium will also represent a diversity of AKIS stakeholders, including advisors, researchers, and other value chain actors, as the cornerstone of a regional, national, and EU level network that will allow a wide sharing of technical and practical expertise to RURP in the long-term.

Land managers combine man-made resources with natural resources to produce marketable products like food, feed, fiber and wood, but at the same time produce ecosystem services that are generally not marketed or compensated. However, land managers generally have little incentive to invest in healthy soils, as they cannot sufficiently capture the value generated by these ecosystem services. SoilValues aims to contribute to the conditions for developing successful soil health business models. These are models in which land managers make production decisions that result in higher levels of soil-based ecosystem services (SES) and in which they are paid for the non-marketed services they generate. In order for such business models to function, three important conditions need to be fulfilled: (1) the outcomes of SES need to be measured, thus requiring knowledge, indicators and models, (2) the data and information generated by these indicators and models need to be exchanged to facilitate monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV), and (3) all these activities should be governed by an appropriate institutional framework consisting of the necessary legislation, standards and incentive schemes. To enhance the conditions for developing successful soil health business models, SoilValues will: (1) provide a comprehensive assessment framework addressing all factors influencing the development of business models for investing in soil health, (2) establish 6 testing grounds across Europe to test and improve emerging and designing new soil health business models, (3) establish 12 communities of practice of land managers, value chain actors, investors and public authorities for soil health business models, (4) design a comprehensive toolbox of incentives and policy recommendations to facilitate soil health business models and (5) raise awareness and exchange knowledge for soil health business models.