Work packages

The overall aim of WP1 is to produce best practices, recommendations and tools for an efficient IPM Farm Demo Network that leads to the successful adoption of IPM throughout the EU. It will develop good practice guides, tools to monitor and evaluate the network performance (e.g., the number of farmers involved, network activities, knowledge exchange between network members, communication outside the hubs, and outcomes of the hubs) and propose strategies, advice and training leading to a long term exploitation of the networks, also after the project ends. This WP1 provides the ‘social sciences’ support for the network and hubs. It will build on the work already done in previous FarmDemo projects, by fine tuning and tailoring to the specific context of IPM networks.

The objective of WP2 is to set up a network of IPM demonstration farms, within and between European countries, and to build a community of farmers, advisers and researchers, to encourage exchange of experiences, foster interactive innovation and ultimately promote the adoption of IPM practices by European farmers. This network will rely both on existing IPM networks in five European countries (FR, DE, NL, CH and UK), and on new hubs of farms in other European countries.

The general objective of this work package is to demonstrate to farmers outside the network that it is possible to reduce farm reliance on pesticide while maintaining (or even enhancing) farm profitability, through advanced holistic IPM designed at the farm level. Most of the demonstration events will be based on IPM success stories described at the cropping/farming system level, in line with the holistic view of IPM promoted by the network. However, some demonstration events will also rely on comparisons of alternative IPM strategies at field level.

The overall objective of WP4 is to create and develop the Resource Toolbox to provide easy access to IPM resources for internal and external stakeholders. The specific objectives are to:

• • • define needs of internal and external stakeholder for the IPM Resource Toolbox website
    • create, test, and develop the IPM Resource Toolbox website
    • evaluate on-farm use of IPM Decision Support Systems (DSSs) provided by the “IPM Decisions” platform, including evaluation of costs and benefits
    • manage, expand and share IPM Resource Toolbox website content with stakeholders

The two main objectives of this WP are to provide:

• • • quantitative information to farmers and hub coaches in the network, illustrating and benchmarking the performance of IPM strategies, and to demonstrate the benefits of implementation of IPM strategies at farm level;
    • quantitative information on the outcome of IPM strategies at the network level, demonstrating the potential of IPM across Europe.

The aim of WP6 is to develop awareness and encourage the engagement of farmers, farmer associations, producer organisations, advisors, companies, researchers, consumers, retailers, and any other stakeholders of the project, promoting the exchange of knowledge on IPM and increasing its adoption by farmers. WP6 includes dissemination, communication, and training activities, with the following specific objectives to:

• • • Develop a detailed communication and dissemination plan for the whole network;
    • Produce and disseminate physical (leaflets, posters and factsheets) and digital (videos, newsletters, etc.) materials;
    • Use social media to reach European farmers, advisors and other stakeholders;
    • Develop web-based training modules and organise face-to-face training sessions of farmers and advisers, to promote both advanced holistic IPM and the approach to foster its adoption;
    • Participate in technical seminars, scientific conferences and agriculture fairs;
    • Plan and organise 4 seminars and one final conference

The overall aim of WP7 is to actively engage policy-makers and stakeholders as expert advocates on IPM to strive for sustainability of the IPM Demo network beyond the project. More specifically to:

• • • brief and keep policy-makers and significant stakeholders of the agri-food chain informed on IPM.

    • connect policy makers in charge of the implementation of the Directive SUD and the National Action Plans with the European demonstration network

    • encourage policy-makers and stakeholders to take part in local and national training and demonstration activities

    • interact with the EIP-AGRI, NRNs and SCAR-AKIS.

    • promote the sustainability of the structure and methods developed during the project, to extend the geographical cover of the IPMWORKS network to all EU regions and Member States (and increase the number of IPM demo farms) during the years after the CSA.

This WP has a three-fold objective:

1. 1. 1. Strategic: to steer the project to address all unexpected situations;
      2. Operational: to ensure that the project progresses in conformity with the work plan; and
      3. Organisational: to optimise the infrastructure to support the project delivery.

The objective is to ensure compliance with the ‘ethics requirements’ set out in this work package.