STRATEGIES TO SCALE INNOVATIONS IN THE AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY SECTORS

Abstract

This paper critically examines the growth phase of co-innovation processes in the agriculture and forestry sectors, whereby the innovation and knowledge that result from co-creation are embedded and disseminated out-with a partnership, in order to achieve greater impact and transformation. To implement this effectively, planning and involving the right people and institutions from the beginning of the process are required. The scaling of innovation, although often interpreted along the lines of adoption, diffusion or extension, refers to more sophisticated and holistic approaches and strategies whereby innovations contribute to and become embedded in broader processes of systemic societal transformations. Hereby we discuss how the process of scaling innovations to achieve systemic impacts may adopt four alternative forms—scaling out, scaling up, and scaling deep and scaling in—. This paper presents the key strategies involved in the scaling of each of these four types. The case studies presented in this paper are part of the H2020 funded project LIAISON (Better Rural Innovation: Linking Actors, Instruments and Policies through Networks), which strives for a better understanding of how different types of interactive innovation partnership’s function and the reasons why some are more successful than others. We analysed eight case studies that are part of a larger LIAISON research work done on 34 innovation case studies across Europe. The focus of this paper is on the understanding of the trajectories, conditions and strategies that can support or deter the scaling of innovations in the agriculture and forestry sectors.