The ESIRA project successfully organized its final Scientific Dissemination Workshop for this year, titled “From Collaboration to Action: How Multi-Actor Platforms Shape Rural Innovation”, followed by a Community of Practice (CoP) session entitled “Lessons Learned and Future Challenges”. The event was held online on 17 December and gathered a diverse group of stakeholders from across Europe.
The workshop brought together more than 50 participants, including researchers, practitioners, and representatives of sister Horizon Europe projects, providing a valuable space for knowledge exchange and discussion. Participants explored key topics such as rural innovation, multi-actor collaboration, social economy initiatives, and participatory approaches in EU-funded projects.
Special appreciation goes to Beatriz Izquierdo, Maria Elena Nogueira, and Sonia Marcos from UBU University for their contributions to the discussions. The ESIRA team also extends sincere thanks to the representatives of the FUTURAL (Carlo Giua), GRANULAR (Fabiana Stortini), LandShift, and SOILSCAPE (Barbara Wieliczko) projects, who shared their experiences and insights related to multi-actor approaches, rural living labs, and pilot areas.
KEY CONCLUSIONS ON STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION AND THE MULTI-ACTOR APPROACH
Effective stakeholder collaboration and the successful embedding of initiatives within Multi-Actor Platforms (MAPs) require long-term commitment, trust-building, and continuous engagement. Trust in scientific knowledge, data, and institutions is not built overnight, but through transparent communication, regular feedback, and participatory processes that actively involve stakeholders over time.
Learning and knowledge exchange among participants, both within and between Living Labs and project partners, play a crucial role in strengthening collaboration. Activities such as cross-visits, local events, and the use of accessible and adaptive language help create more confident, motivated, and connected stakeholder groups.
Experiences from the LandShift and SOILSCAPE projects highlight that each Multi-Actor Platform is context-specific, shaped by local and regional conditions. Clearly communicating the objectives and scope of MAPs is essential to manage expectations and avoid stakeholder disengagement.
Furthermore, engaging and sustaining the participation of all stakeholder groups remains a challenge. Some groups are inherently harder to reach or retain, making it necessary to better understand their needs and motivations. In this process, MAP facilitators play a key role by recognizing relationships between stakeholder groups and fostering trust and cooperation to support the achievement of shared goals.
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE SESSION: LESSONS LEARNED AND FUTURE CHALLANGES
During the Community of Practice session, the focus shifted towards lessons learned and future challenges in implementing collaborative innovation models. Speakers and participants reflected on practical experiences from the field, highlighting both successful approaches and obstacles encountered in multi-actor processes.
Key lessons highlighted the importance of targeted and ad hoc engagement strategies to involve underrepresented groups such as young people, migrants, women, and rural workers. Low participation was seen not as a lack of willingness, but as the result of structural barriers, including language, limited time, lack of trust, or perceived irrelevance. Trust-building, cultural sensitivity, and cooperation with schools, associations, community ambassadors, and informal networks were identified as effective approaches.
Another important lesson was that visible and concrete results are crucial for sustaining motivation. When stakeholders see initiatives advancing and collaborations delivering outcomes, their sense of ownership and commitment increases. MAPs were also recognised as key spaces for building social capital, enabling dialogue, co-creation, and collective learning.
Looking ahead, participants identified long-term sustainability beyond project funding as a major challenge, particularly without institutional anchoring or dedicated resources. Maintaining engagement over time, especially among vulnerable or less visible groups, requires continuous facilitation and adaptive governance. While incentives remain context-dependent, participants largely agreed that non-material incentives, such as training, networking, and knowledge exchange, are more sustainable, with meaningful contributions to rural development serving as the strongest motivation for participation.
The event reaffirmed the importance of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and inclusive approaches in shaping innovative and sustainable solutions for rural development across Europe.