Multi-Actor Partnerships for Agricultural Interactive Innovation: Findings from 17 Case Studies in Europe

Susana B. Guerrero-Ocampo, José M. Díaz-Puente () and Juan Felipe Nuñez Espinoza
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Susana B. Guerrero-Ocampo: Escuela de Ingeniería Agroalimentaria y Biosistemas (ETSIAAB), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Avda. Puerta de Hierro 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain
José M. Díaz-Puente: Escuela de Ingeniería Agroalimentaria y Biosistemas (ETSIAAB), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Avda. Puerta de Hierro 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Juan Felipe Nuñez Espinoza: Escuela Superior de Ingenierías Industrial, Aeroespacial y Audiovisual de Terrassa (ESEIAAT), Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, Carrer de Jordi Girona, 31, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-22

Abstract: Innovation is widely regarded as a key factor for the economic development and competitiveness of companies and countries. It is, therefore, widely considered a policy instrument in various sectors, such as agriculture. In this sector, agricultural innovation is seen as a systemic and interactive phenomenon, which is the result of interactions between innovators and knowledge-generating organisations, as well as social and economic aspects of the context. This paper studies the social structures of multi-actor partnerships involved in interactive innovation processes in agricultural innovation systems, analysing the type of actors involved and the roles they play in the innovation process. For this purpose, 17 case studies were analysed in the framework of the Liaison project, an H2020 project, using social network analysis (SNA) and descriptive statistics. The results show that the studied multi-actor partnerships have been mostly funded by outside sources of funding, highlighting European funds. The innovation networks have a heterogeneous composition, but when we analyse the frequency of interactions there is a tendency to establish greater interaction between organisations that are of the same type. In the “core” of innovation networks, research entities and farmers are central actors with the main role of technician expert and case study field workers, respectively.

Keywords: agricultural; multi-actor partnerships; SNA; interactive innovation; case studies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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