Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering (Sep 2021)

TRANSLATING THE MULTI-ACTOR APPROACH TO RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE USING A WORKSHOP APPROACH FOCUSING ON SPECIES MIXTURES

  • Henrik HAUGGAARD-NIELSEN, Søren LUND, Ane K. AARE, Christine A. WATSON, Laurent BEDOUSSAC, Jean-Noël AUBERTOT, Iman R. CHONGTHAM, Natalia BELLOSTAS, Cairistiona F. E. TOPP, Pierre HOHMANN, Erik S. JENSEN, Maureen STADEL, Bertrand PINEL, Eric JUSTES

DOI
https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FASE-2021416
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 3
pp. 460 – 473

Abstract

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<List> <ListItem><ItemContent><p>● Challenges in reconciling multi disciplinarity with clear expressions of single disciplinary concerns.</p></ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent><p>● Participant involvement was created bridging the gap between academia and practice.</p></ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent><p>● Collaboration potentials with actor networks to co-produce shared visions were recognized.</p></ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent><p>● A common language was developed concerning unfounded perceptions of barriers for change.</p></ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent><p>● The workshop was effective for producing a shared picture of research needs.</p></ItemContent></ListItem></List></p> <p>The EIP-Agri multiactor approach was exemplified during a 3-day workshop with 63 project participants from the EU H2020 funded project “Redesigning European cropping systems based on species MIXtures”. The objective was to share firsthand experience of participatory research among researchers who were mostly not familiar with this approach. Workshop participants were divided into smaller multidisciplinary groups and given the opportunity to interact with representatives from eight actor positions in the value chain of the agrifood cooperative Terrena located in Western France. The four stages of the workshop were: (1) key actor interviews, (2) sharing proposed solutions for overcoming barriers, and (3) developing possible interdisciplinary concepts. Expressions of frustration were recorded serving both as a motivation for group members to become more aware of the scientific concerns and practices of their colleagues, as well as a recognition that some researchers have better skills integrating qualitative approaches than others. Nevertheless, the workshop format was an effective way to gain a common understanding of the pertinent issues that need to be addressed to meet overall multiactor-approach objectives. Working with the actor networks was identified and emphasized as a means to overcome existing barriers between academia and practice in order to coproduce a shared vision of the benefits of species mixture benefits.

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