The FAIRshare (Farm Advisory Digital Innovation Tools Realised and Shared) project launched in November 2018 and with 22 partners involved includes a mix of advisory services, organisations and research institutions from across the EU. This EU H2020 funded project aims to enable a more digitally active farm and farm advisory community by focusing on bridging the digital divide evident between, and within, agricultural advisory services. The project focuses explicitly on existing Digital Advisory Tools and Services (DATS), which can include communication tools, farm software, benchmarking tools, web and phone applications, digital education and training materials and supports, among others.
The project offers the opportunity to fund and develop a number of User Cases (UC), or living labs, involving mainly agricultural advisors to help support the practical implementation of a range of DATS across the Europe. FAIRshare aims to fund 10 UCs up to €90,000 each from across Europe to represent different sectors, production systems, regions, and farm advisory contexts. A public tender was previously launched to develop and fund 10 UCs in different regions across Europe, however following an insufficient number of applications from North Eastern Europe it has been decided to initiate a further request for proposals from the region. Only applications from Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, and Norway will be considered from this call. FAIRshare aims to fund up to 7 large UCs in North Eastern Europe with a value of €90,000 each and has the potential of funding an additional 3 smaller UCs worth €30,000 each from this tender, which will commence later in the project. UCs in this region will be co-ordinated and overseen by LAAS (VIESOJI ISTAIGA LIETUVOS ZEMES UKIO KONSULTAVIMO TARNYBA).
Applicants can include an agricultural advisory service, a cohort of advisors within an agricultural advisory service, or a group of independent farm advisors. UCs should aim to implement or adapt an existing DATS to address a challenge faced by a group of agricultural advisors (For inspiration please refer to the FAIRshare DATs inventory for a list of existing DATS, however the DATS selected does not need to come from this list). Learnings from the UCs will develop insights of the environmental factors (human, infrastructural, cultural, economic etc.) that influence the adoption of DATS at advisory level. FAIRshare will support each UC by providing €90,000 worth of funding and also via strategic assistance from the project. It should be noted that the funding is NOT available for the development of new digital tools and services; rather it is for the adoption or adaption of existing DATS to address advisors needs. Funding should be used to meet costs for aspects such as staff time, travel, workshops, hosting cross visits, training or licencing of key DATS etc.
Prof. Tom Kelly, the Principal Investigator of the FAIRshare project, stated, “This is a great opportunity for farm advisors and their organisations to get help from the FAIRshare project partners to improve their use of digital tools and services. This EU funding is there to help advisors provide relevant services to their farmer customers. In the FAIRshare user cases tender tell us your need and how you would use the funding (€90,000) and FAIRshare field level support, from experts and other advisors who already have and use digital services for Advisory work with their farmers.”
Proposals are now being accepted through a public procurement competition, which is available at https://bit.ly/3f3vkdW
The deadline for applications is 14:00 (CET) on Tuesday the 8th of June.
For more information, contact Teresa Hooks at Teresa.Hooks@Teagasc.ie
Notes:
- Eligible applicants: Proposals should be farm advisor centred and lead applicants can include an agricultural advisory service, a cohort of farm advisors within an agricultural advisory service, or a group of independent farm advisors.
- Applications from the below countries will only be considered:
- Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, Norway
- UCs should aim to support farm advisors to adopt DATS to address a challenge that they face and this should be clearly outlined in proposals.
- This tender is NOT for the development of new tools; rather it applies to the adoption/adaption of an existing DATS.
- The FAIRshare project is an EU funded Horizon 2020 Project with the grant agreement number 818488.