ACTION PLAN FOR INNOVATION AND LEARNING. AGROECOLOGY AND ORGANICS IN EU INNOVATION POLICY

Summary

The EU has put innovation at the heart of its strategy for achieving smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. In comparison with earlier EU research policy, the focus has shifted from research for its own sake to innovation with tangible impact. Putting ideas into practice has become the central goal of Horizon 2020, the EU's Framework Programme for Research & Innovation for 2014-2020. This evolution also affects Europe's food and farming sector. Innovation support will be strengthened in the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Among the different measures that are foreseen in the CAP for 2014-2020 is the creation of a European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP) that should close the gap between research and practice.
Organic and agroecological farming have a long history of strong collaboration between researchers and practitioners and across disciplines. The objective of this contribution is to analyse:
• If and which opportunities EU innovation policy offers for organic and agroecological innovation.
• What lessons EU innovation policy could learn from experiences made with organic and agroecological innovation.