=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-3930/paper23
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|title=Online training platform for the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) in Greece
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3930/paper23.pdf
|volume=Vol-3930
|authors=Epistimi Amerani,Thomas Bournaris,Alexandros Koutsouris,Efstratios Loizou,Stefanos Nastis,Dimitrios Natos,Maria Partalidou,Anastasios Michailidis
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/haicta/AmeraniBKLNNPM24
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==Online training platform for the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) in Greece==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3930/paper23.pdf
Online training platform for the Agricultural Knowledge
and Innovation System (AKIS) in Greece⋆
Epistimi Amerani1,†, Thomas Bournaris1,†, Alexandros Koutsouris3,†, Efstratios Loizou2,†,
Stefanos A. Nastis1,†, Dimitrios Natos1,†, Maria Partalidou1,† and Anastasios Michailidis1, ∗,†
1
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, Thessaloniki, 541 24, Greece
2
University of Western Macedonia, Koila campus, Kozani, 501 00, Greece
3
Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, Athens, 118 55, Greece
Abstract
The Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) promotes innovation by utilizing various tools
such as application technologies, practices, and e-learning platforms. It is crucial for farmers and those
involved in agriculture to continually update their knowledge to reflect changing technologies and best
practices in agricultural production. One of the main goals of the project, which was funded by the Hellenic
Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) under the PhD thesis titled "Evaluation of the Perceived
Efficiency of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems in Greece", is creating an eLearning
platform as the repository of knowledge for AKIS. This paper aims to present materials from an online
training platform course designed for agronomy students. The course aims to encourage potential farmers
or farm advisors to participate in the AKIS system by developing knowledge of AKIS and an understanding
of how AKIS works regarding interactive innovation processes. The proposed course can help increase
awareness of AKIS among farmers by facilitating further support for developing innovative solutions in
agriculture.
Keywords
AKIS, e-learning, innovation, knowledge, training 1
1. Introduction
Agriculture and the agri-food sectors face a constellation of challenges among which meeting a
growing demand for food within an inconsistent environment that poses several threats (economic,
environmental) to farm production [1,2,3]. Hence, innovation processes are increasingly necessary to
meet the demand for novel solutions in products, processes, and services [4,5] and are increasingly
conceptualized as the outcome of collaborative networks, where information is exchanged and
learning processes take place aiming at an expanded knowledge system [6]. Farming competitiveness
is enhanced by promoting innovation, and new technologies, and supporting young
entrepreneurship, whilst ensuring a fair income for farmers. Lately, AKIS studies have emphasized
the importance of involving farmers directly in the innovation process to identify the best response
to farm challenges and improve innovation processes.
At the same time, the European Union’s (EU) recent Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) reform
(EU 2021/2115) aims to enhance the AKIS across the member states. Within the context of the recently
reformed CAP, EU members’ CAP Strategic Plans are trying to tackle current challenges by adopting
⋆ Short Paper Proceedings, Volume I of the 11th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies in
Agriculture, Food & Environment (HAICTA 2024), Karlovasi, Samos, Greece, 17-20 October 2024.
∗
Corresponding author.
†
These authors contributed equally.
epistimi@agro.auth.gr (E. Amerani); tbournar@agro.auth.gr (T. Bournaris); koutsouris@aua.gr (A. Koutsouris);
eloizou@uowm.gr (E. Loizou); snastis@auth.gr (S. Nastis); dnatos@agro.auth.gr (D. Natos); parmar@agro.auth.gr (M.
Partalidou); tassosm@auth.gr (A. Michailidis)
0000-0001-5237-7289 (E. Amerani); 0000-0001-9540-7265 (T. Bournaris); 0000-0003-2756-4925 (A. Koutsouris); 0000-
0002-9779-0226 (E. Loizou); 0000-0002-3102-5505 (S. Nastis); 0000-0002-7088-4812 (D. Natos); 0000-0001-6712-2094 (M.
Partalidou); 0000-0002-7560-4365 (A. Michailidis)
© 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
CEUR
Workshop
ceur-ws.org 134
ISSN 1613-0073
Proceedings
a balanced approach that aligns also with the European Green Deal's priorities for a more resilient,
green, and digital agriculture. They advocate a new production model for agriculture and the entire
agri-food sector while empowering the AKIS system.
To promote knowledge sharing and innovation, the reform proposes various policy instruments.
There is a widespread agreement among scholars and policymakers that knowledge is a critical
resource to support European agriculture in addressing new challenges such as international
competition, food safety, health, and environmental and climate change issues [7]. Farmers require
different kinds of knowledge and information for day-to-day farming activities, such as nutrition,
health, community organization, finance and marketing, and many other issues affecting their living
standards [8]. It is also crucial for farmers and those involved in agriculture to continually update
their knowledge to reflect on changing technologies and best practices in agricultural production.
Soft skills (such as dealing with online platforms) are necessary for a thriving agricultural sector amid
multiple challenges.
Farmers nowadays have access to distance learning and decision-making tools that were
previously unavailable. This could potentially lead to significant changes in farm management
practices [9]. To that end platforms [10] are tools that have a history of successful outcomes; they
are thus considered a plausible tool in contemporary AKIS thinking and development. This paper
focuses on an online training platform that provides knowledge about AKIS and awareness since the
concept of AKIS and its governing principles are not widely known [11].
2. Online training platform
The online training platform (Fig. 1) aims to help agronomy students better understand the
concepts, methods, and features of AKIS. According to [12,13], knowledge of the concept of AKIS
can potentially increase the degree of adoption of innovative practices because the first concern of
AKIS’s actors is the exchange of knowledge about innovations [14]. The topics covered include an
overview of AKIS (Table 1). The specific aim of the course is to provide comprehensive and deeper
insights into AKIS at different levels: i) through a better understanding of the AKIS system at
the country level, ii) through a better understanding of AKIS systems in Europe, iii) through the
identification of Farm Advice Services (FAS) across Europe and iv) through relevant public
policies. The material of the platform contains presentations, videos, links, and quizzes.
Figure1: The home page of the online training for AKIS in Greece
135
Table 1
Index of the online training platform
Topic Lessons
Overview of AKIS in Greece 1. Introduction (The AKIS concept)
2. AKIS in Europe
3. The roles of Advisor
4. AKIS in Greece
3. Conclusions
The creation of such a course for training agronomy students based on an e-learning platform
addresses a specific need, i.e. to expand awareness on AKIS. The latter is a system that connects
people and institutions with the aim of promoting mutual learning and generating, sharing, and
utilizing agriculture-related technology, knowledge, and information. It plays a critical role in
helping farmers and rural communities to address current and future challenges. It’s useful for
agronomic students to know the operational determinants of AKIS such as organisation and
governance of AKIS, type, and diversity of AKIS actors, supporting policy and dedicated resources,
coordination mechanisms, and linkages among AKIS actors as future advisors or entrepreneurs in
the agricultural sector.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and
Innovation (HFRI) under the third call for HFRI PhD Fellowships, grant number
6422.
Declaration on Generative AI
The author(s) have not employed any Generative AI tools.
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