SKIN is coordinated by UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FOGGIA

SKIN is an ambitious initiative of 20 partners in 14 countries in the area of Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs). It intends to systematise and bring knowledge to practitioners, promote collaboration within a demand-driven innovation logic and provide inputs to policymaking through links to the EIP-AGRI. SKIN will build and animate a community of about 500 stakeholders, with the strategic objective of setting up, at the conclusion of the project, a European association permanently working for the improvement of SFSCs efficiency and for the benefit of stakeholders and growth in the sector. The community will be built and animated around the identification of good practices in short supply chains across Europe. Partners will scout, analyse and classify a significant number of cases in different countries. “Best practices” (at least 100) will be systematised, processed into highly usable formats (including video and page-flows) and made accessible to stakeholders via the web (following the EIP AGRI formats) and through the set-up of regional nodes, to allow a deeper penetration of existing knowledge into practice.

HENNOVATION is coordinted by UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

Using the laying hen sector as a case study, we aim to demonstrate the potential for practice-driven innovation networks, supported by existing science and market-driven actors, to develop practical cost-effective solutions to sustainability challenges. Multi-stakeholder networks will develop technical innovations to injurious pecking and the management of end-of-lay hens concerns based on practice, economics and scientific information. A generic “support package” of communication web based tools, facilitation guides and on-line training programmes, designed to help science and market- driven actors, will then be available to support practice-driven innovation networks in other livestock sectors. Finally we will develop policy recommendations that help realize the full potential of practice-driven innovation through multi stakeholder networks in livestock sectors.

EUROSHEEP is coordinated by INSTITUT DE L'ELEVAGE

The future of the sheep farming industry, in Europe and other associated countries, will be heavily influenced by its capacity to respond to several challenges including sustainability and profitability; environmental (in part due to climate change); and new societal expectations. To address these challenges, animal health and nutrition management are key levers which can be used by farmers EuroSheep will focus on those 2 topics.
The overall objective of the EuroSheep project is to create a self-sustainable EU/international Thematic Network on “sheep profitability through health and nutrition” designed to stimulate knowledge exchange and cross-fertilisation among a wide range of actors & stakeholders in the sheep sector in order to widely disseminate relevant and ready to use best practices and innovations, and to value the grassroots input and knowledge exchange from farmers to farmers.

DISARM is coordinated by EIGEN VERMOGEN VAN HET INSTITUUT VOOR LANDBOUW- EN VISSERIJONDERZOEK

The DISARM thematic network (Disseminating Innovative Solutions for Antibiotic Resistance Management) is focused on disseminating best practices from innovative farms and research on how to reduce antibiotic resistance in livestock farming. Antibiotic resistance management is not only important to farming, it can also lead to reduced effectiveness of antibiotics in treating humans. Tackling antibiotic resistance is a major strategic challenge for European livestock farmers, an industry worth over 145 billion euros. Evidence shows that rates of antibiotic use and resistance vary greatly from farm to farm and, that with the adoption of appropriate innovative on farm management practices that both the use of antibiotics and the development of resistance can be reduced. Disseminating these effective management practices is at the heart of the DISARM project, which will work with farmers, vets, advisors, industry and researchers to identify and disseminate widely the most cost effective and beneficial strategies.