Flanders Research Institute for agriculture, fisheries and food – ILVO (Belgium)

ILVO is a research institute of Flanders Government, assigned to work on a sustainable future for the agricultural sector. It is a core belief of the institute that the wellbeing of farmers constitutes a crucial component of this sustainable future. We are convinced that FARMWELL, through its focus on social challenges and innovations, will provide a meaningful contribution improving the wellbeing of farmers.

Ferm voor agravouwen – Ferm vzw (Belgium)

The mission of Ferm voor agravrouwen is to add value to the life of female farmers and horticulturists: we unite them, we train them and we defend their interests. Well-being has always been a priority theme for our network and for our members. FARMWELL offers an excellent network to find, exchange and test social innovations, together with the farmers and horticulturists. This is a fantastic opportunity to improve their wellbeing.

Boerenbond- BB (Belgium)

The core mission of “Boerenbond”, the main farmers organization, is to inform and inspire farmers and to support them with the development of concrete projects, implementing and testing in real world situations. Entrepreneurial development is 1 of our main topics, helping farmers to strengthen their position in the chain and optimizing their internal business operations. We would like to identify the main stress factors for Flemish farmers and gain an overview of the relevant existing solutions for Flanders. Also bringing Flemish farmers and other stakeholders together to discuss and look at other European best practices. Finally developing a toolbox with the best solutions in Europe and bring it to all our farmers.

Coldiretti (ITALY)

Viewing its role as farmers’ organization with different but complementary lenses, Coldiretti supports the development of agricultural businesses with the aim to promote a competitive, innovative rural development that values farmers primarily as human beings. In such a delicate moment, from a social, economic, and political point of view, it is essential to place the person at the core of all our actions. We want to promote an inclusive approach through which we speak about individuals, about those who harvest food we put on our tables, by valorising the inner role of the rural communities that thrive thanks their work, and bringing back the central idea that Society must be organized around people’s lives and overall well-being.

Agricultural Economics Department, University of Pisa – UNIPI (ITALY)

Through our research, and related higher education and advisory work, we support the transition to sustainable and resilient agri-food systems. Our vision is based on an intimate understanding of the:

• multidimensionality of agriculture and food;

• diversity of social needs; and

• existing societal challenges.

We take a problem-based approach, linking these different spheres in a social and ecological systems perspective, and building on multiple theories. We use various qualitative and quantitative research methods and collaborate with researchers from a wide range of disciplines. Already for some time, we have transcended academia to do research with actors in policy and practice. Over time, we have learnt how to meaningfully engage with the actors ‘in the field’ and ‘co-design’ and ‘co-innovate’. In all our work, we follow the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation.”

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – AUTH (Greece)

AUTH’s core mission is to lead as a pioneer institution on academic education and research, while at the same time to diffuse knowledge production to the wider society and economy. It is supporting social transitions in the rural, as well as transformations of the agricultural model in the country that lives up to contemporary societal expectations, through both technical and social innovations. Farmers and rural communities in Greece face a number of social challenges that influence their physical, mental and social health. Ageing rural population, generational renewal, social inclusion of female farmers, new farmer’s identities within a stressful globalized agro-food system are some of the challenges that we aim to address with social innovations that the FARMWELL project will identify.

STEVIA (GREECE)

Stevia Hellas Coop is Europe’s leading large-scale stevia cultivator, consists of a team of 50 farmers and share the passion for sustainable agriculture and healthy nutrition providing it to the world through their products. A values-driven team of people who are making the right ethical choices in producing, sourcing and preparing food ingredients that can make positive social, economic and ecological impacts. FARMWELL is an opportunity to work on preservation of the physical and mental health of the farmers involved, through collaboration among the partners of the project.

Institute of Agricultural Economics – AKI (Hungary)

AKI is a bridge between research, policy making, and market participants. The cooperation with professional organizations and the active professional involvement are well-integrated into the daily operations of the Institute. To retain a close relationship with the agricultural community, AKI regularly publishes new information and the results of its research projects. One of the key research areas is how to adapt successfully to the emerging societal challenges. AKI examines the factors influencing the population retention capacity and the carrying capacity of the food and rural economy, and the societal objectives of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. A major focus is put on potentials of generational renewal, labour supply and demand related to technological modernization and digitization, spatial mobility of the population, social innovations being important from the point of view of the sustainable development of rural areas, social enterprises, maintenance of rural communities and preservation of cultural heritage. Thus, in line with the above-mentioned the FARMWELL project enables the Institute to deepen its knowledge on the well-being of farmers and serves as a means of collaborating extensively with them.

Hungarian Social Farm Society – MSZFSZ (Hungary)

Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, Polish Academy of Sciences – IRWiR PAN (Poland)

IRWiR PAN was established in 1971. It is an important public body which embraces various scientific fields of rural development. It is a leading interdisciplinary research organization focused on monitoring the on-going socio-economic and environmental challenges facing rural areas. The Institute’s scientific staff includes specialists representing various disciplines: economics, sociology, demography, ethnology, education, spatial geography; all of whom share an interest in rural and agricultural issues. In the recent years the experts from the Institute were employed by various international organizations as well as government institutions.

Kujawsko-Pomorski Agricultural Advisory Centre – KPODR (Poland)

Kujawsko-Pomorski Agricultural Advisory Centre supports the comprehensive development of rural areas. We deal not only with the technology and economics of agricultural production, but also with the functioning of local communities, preserving cultural heritage and traditions. Rural areas can perform various functions (provide services) to society, but first and foremost they are the place of life of farmers. Our involvement in FARMWELL is another project for us that can contribute to the development of grassroots initiatives in Polish countryside.

Highclere Consulting – HCC (Romania)

HCC is a privately-owned and socially-minded consultancy company based in southern Transylvania, Romania. We are free-range rural development experts and our passion and curiosity motivate us to constantly look for new challenges that have relevance and meaning in the rural context that we live in and work with – a rural context dominated by communities of small farmers.
The FARMWELL Network is important to us because it provides us with a public platform to engage with the social challenges of rural life that are commonly experienced (but very rarely openly discussed!) in our local villages and rural households. Challenges that relate to the day-to-day dilemmas – and the gradual erosion of self-respect, well-being and mental health – faced by young people, their parents and grandparents as they struggle to maintain their family traditions, cultural heritage and strong connections to the land whilst being pulled away by the promise of employment and a better quality of life in nearby cities and further afield.
There are millions of small farmers in Romania. They exist as individuals, as families and households and as communities – and their well-being is consistently overlooked and neglected! We hope that FARMWELL can help change this.

Grupul de Actiune Locala Tinutul Barsei – GAL Tinutul Barsei (Romania)

FARMWELL is supported by two ‘horizontal’ partners: NewHeroes responsible for creating inspiring communication products and University of Gloucestershire supporting the assessment of social innovations through the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology.

New Heroes

New Heroes is a professional creative company united by a single cause: to defend and revalue what is of value. We question urgent issues at the core of humanity and society and use storytelling and imagination to connect people and create impact. With our storytelling productions for Farmwell we aim to raise awareness about the social challenges of farmers in the local rural communities and in the wider society as a whole. And to better connect farmers to society, and improve the negative perception of society about farming.

University of Gloucestershire – UGLOS

The purpose of UGLOS is to provide partners with guidance to help them learn about the cost-benefit aspects of selected practices, contribute to obtaining relevant skills to assess these, and ultimately to understand the ‘added value’ of social innovations for farmers and other stakeholders (e.g. policy-makers, advisory services, etc.). Actions will be implemented as an integral part of other project activities (both forecasting and evaluative SROI) based on the lessons from the process, detailed by UGLOS/CCRI.