Horizon Europe LiveNet project: A European network of livestock advisors well integrated into their AKIS ecosystems, sharing long-term practical knowledge for sustainable livestock production.

The EU's Farm to Fork strategy, which lies at the heart of the European Green Deal, aims to achieve fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly food systems. Sustainable livestock production must play a substantial role in engaging the EU in the green transition, while ensuring farmers' incomes and quality of life.

The main objective of LIVENET is to establish and develop the capacity of an EU-wide network of advisory services, increasing knowledge exchange among advisors and across AKIS, and fostering the adoption of innovative solutions for sustainable livestock production by farmers.

The project will achieve this by:

1. The establishment and development of an EU network of livestock advisors, building on existing networks and national AKIS, covering all 27 EU Member States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. To cover all MS, the project will adopt a twinning approach: project partners will create 10+1 National Networks that will interact with 18 Associated Networks through a twinning program. The network will cover all European pedoclimatic areas, integrating 10 EU regional clusters, the main livestock sectors, and the main thematic challenges faced by breeders.
2. The collection, selection, evaluation, adaptation, and validation of context-based Innovative Advisory Practices (IAPs) that are technically, economically, socially, and environmentally viable and will be replicated across the EU.
3. The broad scale of solutions through training, demonstration events, and other activities aimed at advisors, students, and value chain actors to promote the adoption of IAPs.
4. Connecting with other regional, national, and EU projects, initiatives, and policymakers to better integrate livestock advisory organizations into AKIS.

The project adopts a multi-stakeholder approach, bringing together 20 organizations with extensive experience in sustainable livestock production and advisory services, representing a variety of AKIS stakeholders (farmers, advisors, researchers, and value chain actors).