All across Europe, rural areas are facing major social, economic, and environmental concerns and challenges. Innovative solutions are needed to help farmers, foresters, and other rural businesses or initiatives to meet the expectations of wider society, whilst at the same time running their own successful businesses and working in harmony with the essential natural resources on which we all depend. Innovation encompasses various processes such as networking, the co-creation of ideas, and regular information exchange. In particular, practical collaboration between partners with diverse competencies is needed for the realisation of innovative ideas and new solutions. EU funding for so-called “multi-actor” research and innovation projects is an especially important tool for speeding up the development, local adjustment, dissemination, and use of innovations in food, farming, the bioeconomy, natural resources and the environment. The EU Multi-Actor Approach (MAA) specifically requires applicants to ensure that potential future users of the project’s results contribute to the development and implementation of the project from the beginning until the end of the activities. Over 40 % of all topics of Cluster 6 of the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme require the application of the multi-actor approach. And more are to come!
Objectives of PREMIERE: The project aims to strengthen the multi-actor approach by supporting the development of more relevant, coherent, and well-prepared project proposals. This includes all aspects of improving the search for suitable partners, building the project partnership, co-designing the work plan, and negotiating an appropriate budget. A particular focus will be on the involvement of new partner organisations that have not previously been involved in multi-actor projects, including those that have made previous unsuccessful project proposals. Success with the multi-actor project approach is all about making sure that academic and non-academic consortium members find each other and collaborate on equal levels to ensure that the focus of their work together is on meeting the real needs of practitioners.