Innovations in agriculture and forestry

 

Rural innovation groups (EIP-AGRI)

The aim of the rural innovation groups under the European innovation partnership for agricultural productivity and sustainability (EIP-AGRI) is to improve the productivity, efficiency and sustainability of agriculture and other primary production. The activities combine the practical skills and expertise of entrepreneurs and the knowledge of other experts. The groups solve a certain problem that has been identified and share the innovation created for common use.

Read more about the innovation groups that have already been funded on their website (in Finnish).

A rural innovation group must have at least one member from the following:
 

1. enterprises in the agriculture and forestry sectors, enterprises processing agricultural products, or bioeconomy enterprises related to these
2. relevant experts (organisations) in terms of the question to be solved, such as researchers, advisers, companies or associations.

The idea and reform generated by the rural innovation group must be linked to the operations of the companies that represent the primary production sectors and are members of the group. The aim is to achieve renewal and activities that have novelty value, which means that the problem to be solved must also be a new one or concern a matter that so far has not been tested in Finland.

The group is expected to share the outcomes of its work broadly. This will also enable farmers or other entrepreneurs who were not members of the innovation group to adopt the idea and start using it.
The rural innovation groups operate as development projects. The projects to be funded from the CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027 can be national or regional, and some of the projects can also be international. The term of the rural innovation groups is 1 to 5 years.

During the programming period 2014–2020 funding from the Rural Development Programme for Mainland Finland was granted to a total of 32 rural innovations groups. The public funding for these totalled about EUR 9.1 million.
Innovation groups can engage in international cooperation with EIP-AGRI groups of other EU countries. They can also collaborate with research projects under the international Horizon2020 programme.

EIP-AGRI groups have been funded in almost all EU Member States. Read more about EIP-AGRI at: https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en

Related links

Rural.fi
Finnish Food Authority

Inquiries

More information on the application is available at the Economic Development Centre. For more information on applications for national EIP-AGRI projects, please contact Lassi Hurskainen firstname.lastname@elinvoimakeskus.fi

Rural Network Unit, Finnish Food Authority: Tuija Kallio, firstname.lastname@ruokavirasto.fi