Ireland
Description
Cultivate, the Sustainable Ireland Cooperative, coordinates the Irish Living Lab, comprising stakeholders from the Feeding Ourselves Community of Practice (CoP) with support from University College Dublin (UCD) . This network was established for agroecological farmers, land-workers, local food advocates, and Environmental NGOs across Ireland to foster peer-learning and capacity building in agroecology and local food economies.
Members include Talamh Beo the Irish Landworkers Alliance, Open Food Network, Food Coops, Food Hubs, and academic researchers from ARC2020 and the Centre for Cooperative Studies at University College Cork. The Irish Environmental Network also participates through its agriculture and land use policy officer and other food and biodiversity researchers.
The Irish Living Lab aims to unite diverse actors and organisations in strengthening local food economies and short food supply chains (SFSC). It will explore the supports and training necessary for both formal and non-formal advisors and local food facilitators, integrate SFSC advisors into the national AKIS, and work towards establishing a SFSC advisory service.
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Supporting Partners
Specific Challenges
- Current food supply chain is dominated by large export focused industrialized parties
- Lack of people with necessary skills & competencies in SFSC advisory services
- No adequate support for SFSC acors
- AKIS and advisory networks are disconnected
Vision
Establishing a scalable case study in the region of Dowth, focusing on and prioritizing the needs of stakeholders and creating links to national authorities and institutions providing support in topics like food safety and legal requirements to support SFSC actors. Create a more transparent AKIS network in Ireland and use data and evidence to show the value of sustainable farming.