The H2020 FAIRshare project (Farm Advisory Digital Innovation Tools Realised and Shared) in which CONSULAI is an active partner, will fund proposals to support the Digitalization of Agriculture across Europe.

FAIRshare started in November 2018 and aims to build a more digitally active agricultural advisory and consulting community. The project focuses on promoting the adoption of Digital Advisory Tools and Services (or DATS) by conducting training activities and promoting experience sharing among advisors and advisory technicians. By supporting advisors and advisory technicians to become more proficient in the use of DATS, the project is also improving farmers’ participation in the digital age.

The project intends to fund a series of Case Studies (CE), to help support the use of a range of DATS across Europe. Applicants can be, an agricultural or forestry advisory service, a set of advisors within an advisory service, or independent advisors and advisory technicians. Even though FAIRshare has already established some ECs as part of the project, it now intends to fund 13 more ECs of €30,000 each. To this end, a public tender has been launched to select these ECs in 4 regions of Europe:

• Region 1: Western Europe – France, Ireland, UK, Spain, Portugal – 3 ECs that will be coordinated by Teagasc.
• Region 2: Northeast Europe – Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, Norway, Sweden – 3 EC that will be coordinated by LAAS (VIESOJI ISTAIGA LIETUVOS ZEMES UKIO KONSULTAVIMO TARNYBA).
• Region 3: South East Europe – Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Greece – 4 ECs to be coordinated by SEASN (MREZA SAVJETODAVNIH SLUZBI JUGOISTOCNE EUROPE).
• Region 4: Central Europe – Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria – 3 EC that will be coordinated by ZLTO (ZUIDELIJKE LAND- EN TUINBOUWORGANISATIE VERENIGING).

The H2020 FAIRshare project will support each selected Case Study with funding of up to 30,000 euros. It is intended that these ECs will have a duration of up to 6 months. Case Studies can be broad and take many different approaches. Some examples could include, but are not limited to, adaptation and adoption of specific digital tools, skills development and training, capacity building and communication activities within advisory organizations to support the adoption of digital tools.

Whatever the scope, funding proposals should take into account the amount of funding (€30,000) and the short period of time (6 months). The funding can be used to cover the costs of the case studies themselves, including aspects such as staff time, travel, translations, workshops, study tours, training or licensing of DATS, adaptation costs, etc.

Tom Kelly, the Main Investigator of the FAIRshare project, said, “This is a great opportunity for advisory technicians and their organizations to obtain funding for specific digitization actions needed to improve services to farmers.”

Proposals are now being accepted through a public procurement competition, which is available here.

The deadline for submitting applications is 14:00 (CET) on Monday, March 14, 2022.

For more information and updates on the competition, you can follow FAIRshare social media accounts on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook or contact: teresa.hooks@teagasc.ie

Learn more about the project, here. 

(NOTES: a) Eligible applicants: Proposals will only be considered if they are focused on forestry or agricultural advisory consultants and technicians. Lead applicants may include an advisory service, a set of consultants within an advisory service, or a group of independent consultants; b) this call is NOT for the development of new instruments; c) organizations that are already beneficiaries or involved in the FAIRshare project are not eligible; c) submissions can only be made through the online call and using the provided application form; d) the FAIRshare project is an EU funded Horizon 2020 project with grant agreement number 818488).