What was striking about the four innovation cases presented during the Belgian Cross Visit? And what questions did the visit prompt? The symposium at the end of the Belgian Cross Visit looked at the whole picture.

Positive Pearls

The approach of Innovatiesteunpunt is to never take over the steering wheel from the farmer. The farmer is in the driver’s seat and takes the initiative at the start of the innovation process as well as when the advisor gets involved.

Innovatiesteunpunt focuses on co-creation and cross fertilization. They focus on bringing people together which generates all kinds of new ideas. The innovation process is more of a discovery tour than a flat process or innovation protocol that may be ticked off.

The advisory service also helps farmers rethink their business by holding up a mirror to the farmer so as to make him reflect on what his practice is. This gives the farmer the possibility of looking beyond the border. Also, Innovatieseteunpunt can connect the farmers with relevant funding.

The connection between the advisor and the farmer is all about “we share an idea, we share an ambition and we share the same value”. The advisory service is value driven more than it is driven by money and resources.

Finally, Innovatiesteunpunt’s take on the innovation process is multi faceted. They look at the whole farm and not just one aspect of it.

Interesting Puzzles

The Cross Visit also gave rise to questions which were largely left unanswered but would have been interesting to know or consider for the stakeholders:

  • How typical are the innovation cases for Flanders? Where does the mainstream farmer come into the picture and what does Innovatiesteunpunt do for him?
  • What about the transferability of the innovation process? The focus of the innovation cases is on individuals but how will the knowledge gained by these individuals be spread to others?
  • Innovatiesteunpunt puts a lot of energy into individual coaching. But does it help innovation on a larger scale in Flanders?
  • Innovatiesteunpunt offer low cost advice, which is made possible by project funding. How willing is the farmer to pay the real cost of the advisory service?
  • Farmers used internet-based knowledge instead of research in the visited cases. What is the quality of this internet-based knowledge?

Read the report from the Belgian Cross Visit

Watch the video which presents the pearls and puzzles of the Belgian Cross Visit.