The FAIRshare consortium will use a multi actor approach to co-create and co-ordinate actions which will enable independent farm advisors and thereby, their farmer clients. A multi-actor toolbox will be developed to support the facilitation and mediation of a multi- actor process that inevitably (and desirably) involves actors with different experiences, perspectives, beliefs and types of knowledge. Throughout the WPs of FAIRshare, different multi-actor scenarios and challenges arise, and these will be addressed by a fit-for- purpose multi-actor toolbox of participatory approaches.
The project will gather data to make available a searchable database/inventory of digital tools and services. As part of the communication and public engagement strategy of WP7, it will focus on awareness building, animating and enabling advisors to make better use of digital tools already developed and used and new tools which will emerge on the digital horizon over the five year period of the project. The project will support a detailed review and support system for individuals and advisory organisations working from advisor level, supporting the strategic sharing of tools, expert users and digitisation expertise and training/development resources.
Drawing from strong Social Science and Humanities (SSH) expertise from within the project consortium (e.g. RURALIS, Teagasc, AUA15 and WUR), considerations of language, culture, skills and socio-economics are deliberately mainstreamed throughout all project activities. Coupled with the multi-actor approach and public-engagement & communication strategy (WP7) the mainstreaming of SSH contributes to support a collegiate spirit of investment in FAIRshare, and of sharing good practice, resources and expertise.
WP1
Permanent Networking Facility (PNF) with online search and inventory of DATs and digital support services
A digital platform will be developed to collect and distribute information on digital tools and services used by advisors with a view to creating a portal/inventory for the acquisition, exchange and dissemination of DATS. It will also provide a searchable multi- lingual interface for advisors and software professionals based on semantic technology. It will also develop a networking capacity for users.
WP2
‘Good practice’ Digital Advisory Tools and Services
A multi-actor approach (MAA) will create approx. 200 vignettes i.e. animated in-depth user cases selected from the digital tools collated in WP1. These learnings will be used to identify the good practices in the design, development and use of digital tools and services.
WP3
The interface between DA and the advisory & farming communities
Adding another layer to the vignettes, the interface between advisers and farmers will be explored, the attractiveness of and engagement with DA, novel technologies and systems, in particular the existing advisory practices that advocate and animate the use of DATS in the farming community. Four regional multi-actor workshops will explore inform the selection of potentially high impact digital tools (HITs) to be used in as pilots in WP4. It will also create a realistic level of confidence in the MAA within the project partners.
WP4
Learning from the adoption of new DATS
The FAIRshare WP4 team will propose and select a variety user cases (UCs) mainly from partners and their third parties. These will represent 30 different contexts and regional and sectoral differences, these may be a sectoral group of advisors within an organisation or multiple independent advisors in a country or region. In WP4 the user cases will trial the adoption of some of the digital tools identified in WP3. The learnings from the sharing
and adoption of these tools will be valuable in identifying the contextual differences and the issues experienced by farmers and advisors.
and adoption of these tools will be valuable in identifying the contextual differences and the issues experienced by farmers and advisors.
WP5
Develop Roadmaps towards enhanced use of DATS in advisory services
The learnings from WP4 will be used in each of the 30 user cases to develop a roadmap leading towards greater use of digitisation by advisors and farmers. In each case, the MAA will be used to achieve a vision, roadmap and action plan for that specific context. Multi- disciplinary teams will be formed and attend MA events providing peer support, expertise and motivation to the processes.
WP6
Exchange, modification and use of digital tools by advisors
Actions will be supported across all user cases and will support the smooth adoption and adaption of DATS. This will consist primarily of training, mentoring in the actions identified in WP5, and will be embedded in the UC action plan. Each user case will be supported by a visiting team of 3-4 people consisting of farmer, advisor and expert users of HIT. Training of trainers will be provided to individuals from the UCs in order to support the widespread adoption while part funding will be provided to deal with the challenges of language and other customisation needs.
WP7
Dissemination and communication
Dissemination and communication are a huge component of the FAIRshare with the ambition to reach across the spectrum of the project from WP1 to WP6. A communication and dissemination plan will be prepared with a view to facilitating information exchange with target audience’s e.g. advisory services, ICT service providers, farmers, other relevant projects and networks. It will be particularly focused on delivering high quality publication, reports, practice abstracts and video materials to promote and publicise the project and its findings.