3rd meeting of the Advisory Working Group of the Spanish AKIS Coordination Body

The third meeting of the Advisory Working Group of the Spanish AKIS Coordinating Body took place on November 19th. Nearly 50 participants representing national and regional public administrations, agricultural organizations, research centers, academia, and, in short, the entire agri-food chain addressed the various areas of interest in agri-food advisory services.

Regarding Digital Transition Advice , a 25-member subgroup has been formed, which is expected to include experts from the technology and input companies. After consolidating the conceptual framework, the subgroup is expected to identify case studies and organize a meeting by the end of December or early January.

Regarding Innovation Consulting , progress is being made on the conceptual framework by the end of November, sharing examples from European, national and regional platforms, and a repository of cases has been created, including Innovation Support Services (ISS) and practical examples of how ISSs have developed their functions in projects or initiatives (from GGOO and other cases).

Work will also be done to gather training and capacity building requests to align policies and resources with the real demands of the sector.

The Advisory Board for Young and New Farmers also has a working subgroup that will meet soon to finalize the conceptual framework and define the next steps.

Regarding the Sustainable Nutrition Advisory Networks , it is worth noting that the subgroup met at the end of October, and the objectives and theoretical framework were defined. Topics to be discussed include:

• What is considered advice according to RD 1051/2022
• What is an independent advisor?
• Training needs
• Possibility of sending surveys to a wider audience (not just the identified stakeholders)
• Advisor networks, take advantage of existing ones
• Examples of good practices (e.g. Valencia)
• Soil Physical-Chemical Data Viewer (ITACyL)
• SATIVUM
• European Soil Monitoring Law

This group will also consider proposals from other entities representing stakeholders who should be included in this working group but are not currently there. In addition, a survey will be conducted asking about how these stakeholders address and identify the needs they identify in sustainable nutrition advice. It is estimated that by February, the needs and case studies that can address these needs will be identified. These may include operational groups, projects, regulations applied in another country/region, innovations, etc. A report with policy recommendations and proposals that the Administration can implement to address these needs will be drafted by March or April.

Regarding the Plant Health Advisory Networks , the objective is to create an updated and harmonized database on the different groups, networks, number of people advised, crops, surface area, strengths and weaknesses.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the work carried out by the working group on Advisory Networks in Organic Production . After identifying the theoretical framework, the actors—that is, the advisors, advisory bodies, public agencies, and those advised—who fulfill this role in relation to organic production are expected to be identified before the beginning of 2025. Case studies will then be identified, needs will be analyzed between January and March of next year, and finally, a report with policy recommendations is planned.