This expansion to cover all themes of organic agriculture marks a major milestone in the development of the multilingual Organic Farm Knowledge platform, which aspires to become the European reference hub for practical knowledge on organic farming, thus contributing significantly to the goal that 25% of the European Union’s farmland should be organic by 2030.
The platform’s original focus on arable crop production and animal husbandry was developed through the two European funded projects in the Horizon 2020 programme: OK-Net Arable and OK-Net Ecofeed. The project teams founded and built this platform from its roots, synthesised existing knowledge and developed new tools (fact sheets, videos, etc.) adapted to the needs of farmers. Today, about 400 tools are available on the platform, with 330 relating to crop production and 150 to animal husbandry.
The theme expansion was strategically planned by the Executive Board and Editorial board to make it attractive for end-users and hence sustainable in the long term. The restructured platform features six main themes: Crop production, Animal husbandry, Soil, Food chain management, Environment and society and Farm management. Users can browse through the platform’s themes or search the toolbox directly according to tool type, language, keywords and more.
Call for further collaborations
Several research projects collaborate with the Organic Farm Knowledge platform, utilising the platform to disseminate their practice-oriented results. The knowledge platform is open to further collaborations, which enable the continued growth of knowledge provision by increasing its range of available tools. Partnerships are a win-win: projects can promote and further disseminate knowledge created in their research direct to end-users, therefore increasing their impacts while facilitating the growth and successful continuation of the platform. This platform will continue to thrive only through strengthening and furthering alliances.
Please contact us for more information on how your project or organisation can collaborate or contribute to Organic Farm Knowledge.
Further information
Contact
- Lauren Dietemann, FiBL Switzerland
- Bram Moeskops, IFOAM Organics Europe, bram.moeskops(at)organicseurope.bio
About Organic Farm Knowledge – the bridge between science and practice
The goal of the Organic Farm Knowledge platform is to increase the sustainability, productivity and quality of organic farming across Europe by bridging the gap between science and practice. It disseminates existing practical knowledge and research innovations developed in European organic-focused projects to target groups: farmers and farm advisors. Organic Farm Knowledge brings this knowledge together at the European level and facilitates user-friendly and barrier-free access to a wide range of practical tools and resources and promotes knowledge exchange.
The platform was set up in 2017 by the International Centre of Organic Farming Research ICROFS in the framework of the OK-Net Arable project, and it was developed further in the OK-Net Ecofeed project by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, IFOAM Organics Europe and ICROFS.
In its Executive and Editorial Boards key organic farming institutions from several European countries are represented.
Links
- organic-farmknowledge.org: Website of the Organic Farm Knowledge platform
- icrofs.dk: Website of the International Centre of Organic Farming Research ICROFS
- organicseurope.bio: Website of IFOAM Organics Europe