Upscaling of a regional sustainable farming network to an international knowledge-exchange network: implications on knowledge exchange and stakeholder learning.

Today’s Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems (AKIS) do not meet the challenge to increase simultaneously agricultural productivity and sustainability. Furthermore, increased attention is required to close the research and innovation divide (EC, 2013). Cooperation between research and other actors (i.e. extension, farmers, …) is crucial for innovation-driven research and should be promoted, notably through the European Innovation Partnerships (EIP).

The European DAIRYMAN network is regarded by the European Commission as a good example of EIP. The network is an upscaling of the regional Dutch network ‘Cows and Opportunities’ to the broader north-west European region. We describe both networks and the process of upscaling. We investigate the success of the upscaling, by reflecting on differences in network structure (composition, organization) and processes of knowledge exchange within the networks, and if and how these networks contribute to closing the aforementioned divide.