Abstract
CONTEXTThe key European Union (EU) policy instrument in support of innovation in agriculture, forestry and related sectors is the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability. It applies the ‘interactive innovation model’ which brings together actors with complementary types of knowledge. This policy instrument is implemented inter alia through multi-actor projects funded via the Horizon 2020 (H2020) Research and Innovation (R&I) programme. OBJECTIVEAlthough the multi-actor H2020 projects account for a substantial part of EU project funding for agriculture, forestry and related sector R&I, systematic and comparative research on the multi-actor H2020 projects is scarce. This is partly due to a lack of a structured analytical approach to accommodate the differences in institutional, cultural and social contexts which influence the co-innovation and social learning processes in these multinational, multi-actor partnerships. To this end, we argue that the analytical integration of the micro- and macro-level innovation system (IS) perspectives is necessary to understand fully the mechanisms underlying the functioning of, and the co-innovation process within, multi-actor H2020 projects. METHODSThis analytical gap is addressed with the development of an integrated, Multi-level Innovation System framework (MINOS) and its application to 50 multi-actor H2020 projects. MINOS recognises the presence, influence of and interaction between multiple levels of IS in such projects. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSWe distinguish four levels of IS: the European Agricultural Innovation System (EU AIS), the National Agricultural Innovation System (NAIS), the H2020 project and the partner organisations involved in the project (Partner). Our analysis of the system failures that occurred across most of the 50 cases allowed us to identify and conceptualise two categories of ‘multi-level system failures’, namely multipliers and stackers, and the presence of mitigating factors. SIGNIFICANCEThe MINOS analytical framework enabled a) a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of co-innovation in multi-actor H2020 projects and b) contributed to addressing the theoretical and conceptual gaps in terms of studying the interconnection and interdependence of different IS levels.
Highlights
European Union (EU) policy defines innovation as the outcome of an interactive and co-evolutionary process engaging multiple types of ac tors (EIP-AGRI Service Point, 2017)
We have presented a Multi-level Innovation System framework (MINOS) as a way a) to understand the underlying mecha nisms of the functioning of multinational multi-actor co-innovation partnerships in the format of multi-actor Horizon 2020 (H2020) projects in agriculture, forestry and related sectors and b) to address the theoretical and con ceptual gap in terms of studying the interconnection and interdepen dence of different IS levels
We have demonstrated that the integration and combination of a macro- (AIS) and micro- (OIS) perspective to IS analysis is both theoretically and empirically compatible
Summary
European Union (EU) policy defines innovation as the outcome of an interactive and co-evolutionary process engaging multiple types of ac tors (EIP-AGRI Service Point, 2017) An example of such an EU policy instrument is the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI). The funding is provided via two distinct mechanisms: a) the national Rural Development Programmes under the Common Agricultural Policy in the form of Operational Groups (OGs) and b) the Horizon 2020 (H2020) Research and Innova tion (R&I) programme in the form of multi-actor projects The latter may (or may not) be ‘research’ projects, and their activities are expected to be based on ‘co-innovation’ between actors with complementary knowledge (and other resources) ‘all along the project’, i.e., from defining the problem to implementing the solution
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