Concept

SMARTCHAIN will stimulate demand-driven innovation in short food supply chains to improve competitiveness and foster rural development using multi-actor approach. The project is using an interactive innovation model where all actors involved in the project (entrepreneurs and practitioners directly involved in running short food supply chains, representatives of organisations concerned with supporting short food supply chains and a number of researchers with different expertise who specialise in short food supply chains) are working together to make best use of scientific and practical knowledge for the co-creation and diffusion of novel solutions ready to solve practical problems.

Methodology

Using bottom-up, demand-driven research, the SMARTCHAIN consortium

  • will perform a multi-perspective analysis of 18 case studies of short food supply chains in terms of technological, regulatory, social, economic and environmental factors;
  • will assess the linkages and interactions among all stakeholders involved in short food supply chains;
  • will identify the key parameters that influence sustainable food production and rural development among different regions in Europe;
  • will develop a gamification model, creating a strategy and roadmap for building community engagement on a local, regional, national and European level.

Collaboration

A sustainable virtual innovation platform will be developed to favour the interaction and cooperation in the co-creation and innovation processes. The platform will disseminate knowledge, innovative practical solutions and know-how transfer relevant to short food supply chains, which will be supported by novel interactive tools, facilitating the interplay platform-user and the cooperation of the consortium and beyond. The national innovation hubs and an international community of short food supply chains will be built and implemented in the platform, creating cross sectorial connections among all stakeholders involved in the short food supply chain domain

The overall concept of the SMARTCHAIN project is schematically presented below