Enabling Practice-driven Innovation in the Animal Production Sector

Using the laying hen sector as a case study, the EU-H2020-funded Hennovation project has been testing mechanisms to enable practice-driven innovation through the establishment of innovation networks of farmers and within the laying-hen-processing industry that are facilitated to proactively search for, share and use new ideas to improve hen welfare, efficiency and sustainability. Networks are variably supported by scientists, veterinarians, advisors and others. Nineteen multi-actor networks have been mobilised on local and regional levels across the UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain and Czech-Republic. Practice-driven innovation processes were network specific and evolved as the actors within the network came together to share common problems, experiment with possible solutions and learn. Their success was also affected by the institutional context, the structure of the poultry sector, current market forces and wider Agricultural Innovation Systems in each country. This paper explores the circumstances considered necessary by the facilitators to enable practice-driven innovation, providing examples of conditions affecting the innovation process. Further influences included conditions for innovation to happen (e.g. shared opportunity, motivation and knowledge), conditions to work effectively as a network (e.g. trust, collective purpose and contacts) and conditions for successful application in practice (e.g. capacity within the production system and market and legislative ability).