Collaboration for Sustainable Agriculture

Every year, large sums are spent on developing new knowledge and reaching out to relevant target groups with this knowledge. Both the advice that farmers pay for themselves and advice services paid by the government are part of the knowledge system. At the same time, there is a lack of expertise about how effective the knowledge and innovation systems are in meeting contemporary and future challenges, as well as whether they provide the desired benefit in relation to the costs.

However what we do know is the constant need to develop collaboration and advice methods. New challenges and problems require new ways of working. Based on this, the SLU Competence Centre for Advisory Services started 10 years ago.

Overview

– With this book, we want to provide a critical overview of the theme of knowledge development in collaboration. We need to understand what challenges and opportunities it entails and what is required to create change in the desired direction, says Magnus Ljung, operations manager at the SLU Competence Centre for Advisory Services.

– The grand political goals for knowledge development and innovation in agriculture at the EU level and nationally all emphasize cooperation and collaboration between research and practice, but somewhere a gap arises between the political visions of change and everyday work. This is why there is a need to define and illustrate the system more clearly, says Lisa Blix Germundsson, who lead the book project.

– It is a unique book regarding the width of the authors' and co-authors' competences within the various knowledge and innovation systems in agriculture, AKI., It is also unique in its way of systematically and structuredly highlighting challenges and possible solutions, reflections and recommendations from many different perspectives, says Magnus Börjeson, chairman of AgroÖst and the Rural Network's analysis group AKIS.

In one of the book's forewords, Anna Samuelsson, farmer and board member of Växa, writes:

– We must test new forms of dialogue around research findings and needs, create non-prestigious meeting forums with high ceilings, but with demands for pace in delivery and follow-up.

Summarizes ten years

The book is aimed at all actors within AKIS in Sweden; farmers and agricultural organizations, advisors and consultants, researchers and educational actors, research financiers, suppliers and customers in agricultural value chains, as well as actors such as banks, media, interest organizations, teachers and students.

With this book, SLU Competence Center for Advisory Services, summarizes the results of its first 10 years and makes a starting point for the future.

The editorial team consists of Lisa Blix Germundsson, Magnus Ljung, Christina Lundström and Jenny Höckert. Anna Lind Lewin has been responsible for the design.

The following persons contribute to the book: Mette Tiselius, Lars Johansson, Lotta Fabricius Kristiansen, Elisabeth Ögren, Jörgen Korning, Sebastian Remvig, Per Hansson, Erik Stjerndahl, Markus Hoffman, Oleksiy Guzhva, Jessica Lindblom, Jonas Engström, Per Frankelius, Karolina Muhrman and Victoria Tönnberg.
Foreword by Anna Samuelsson and Magnus Börjeson.

The book covers, among other things, advice for sustainable agriculture, the opportunities and challenges of digital development, and stakeholder collaboration for shared learning and decision-making.

The book that has only been published in Swedish was released in December 2024 and can be ordered through marie.bergkvist@slu.se