Italian networking of public experimental sites working on Organic Farming: an experience of networking in research

Summary

Research in organic farming, especially with an agro-ecological approach, is strictly linked to local conditions and interactions among several variables. The paper will present an example of a process developed in the Italian context to integrate and harmonize research in organic farming from different research stations, with different local conditions. Collecting similar and comparable data from different research stations participating in the network can have an interesting impact in results of organic farming experiments, due to high number and variability of data. ARSIA Toscana, with the aim of creating an Italian National Network of public experimental stations working in organic farming, involved FIRAB as a facilitator of the participatory process. The proposed process follows two parallel paths: individual questionnaire to single experimental sites to know the specific activities in place on organic farming and a series of meetings with direct involvement and exchange among researchers and policy makers from different regions to comment results of the questionnaire and future development of organic research in public experimental stations. The main outcome of the process has been the choice of a specific transversal topic to build the network: the development of synthetic agro-environmental indicators.