EUREKA Winter Consortium Meeting & personas validation workshop – 12-14 January 2021, online

On 12-14 January 2021, the Horizon 2020 EUREKA project’s winter consortium meeting took place. This project will boost the EU’s agricultural knowledge base by connecting all multi-actor projects. To achieve this, EUREKA will use a new, centralized, open-source knowledge reservoir tentatively titled ‘FarmBook’. IFOAM Organics Europe is a project partner and engaging the organic sector in the FarmBook’s development, making sure the new platform meets the organic actor’s needs.

Developing an organic persona for the FarmBook
Well-developed personas will form the basis of the development of both the FarmBook and communication strategies. On 19-20 January, the project partners developed expert workshops to validate the created personas. IFOAM Organics Europe featured organic farmer persona Marta, part of the early majority of innovators. She likes to network and is innovative, communicative and passionate, believing in what she does. In terms of finding information, easy access to subsidies is crucial for her.

Report back: Work on the FarmBook
During the meeting, the participants presented progress in the different Work Packages and the future FarmBook’s prototype. To match this new e-platform with end users’ needs, farmers, foresters, advisors, policymakers etc., the project developed personas, each covering a scope of needs. The participants, including experts from the organic sector, also presented the outcomes of the expert workshop in December to validate the knowledge objects from all multi-actor projects that were collected and analysed in Work Package 1.

While farmers value demonstrations and audio/video material most, they also cited networks, a database with expert contacts (advisors) and farmers interested in research projects, subsidies and market information as well as government policies (information about legislation, regulations and funds) as important.

Another recurrent suggestion regarding the FarmBook was ‘organic’. There will be an option to filter the search results according to ‘systems’ (for each sector). The question of governance of the future FarmBook was addressed as well. The focus will be on self-sustenance through uptake by the community. IFOAM Organics Europe will play an active part in reaching out to organic farmers as a relevant ‘EUREKA archetype’, that is, a group of end users for dissemination and exploitation.

What is next?
At the end of March/beginning of April, user tests will take place to ensure information on the platform can be found easily.

Interested? Contact [email protected], service designer at Leap Forward & EUREKA partner.

Read on EUREKA’s project website, Twitter & Facebook accounts.