Project partners
Wageningen University, Rural Sociology Group
The Rural Sociology Group of Wageningen University is involved in academic and applied research and education in the field of rural studies. At present the main research themes include: rural transformation processes, dynamics and sustainability of food supply chains, rural governance, and innovation and transition management. A common denominator in research is the focus on the diversity of practices of farmers and other rural actors, and the way in which the potentials for sustainable rural development embodied in these can be effectively taken into account in new governance structures and rural policies. An important feature of its research is the multidisciplinary approach, based on a well-established co-operation between sociologists, economists, agronomists, animal scientists and technicians.
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The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick (Switzerland) is a leading competence centres for research and consultancy on organic agriculture in Europe. FiBL Frick, founded back in 1973, is the world’s largest research establishment for organic agriculture. Since the economic and policy environment of organic farming plays an increasingly important role for the development of the sector, in the 1990, the Socio-Economics division was created as an independent unit at FiBL. The current research focus of the group comprises the research fields of farm management and entrepreneurial development, agricultural policy, organic statistics, market and consumer studies, production standards.
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QAP Decision
QAP Decision has been formally created in 1991, as a limited liability company (SARL), by Gérald Assouline, Dr. in Development Economics and Prof. at the University of Social Sciences of Grenoble (France). Working very closely with European partners, consultants and researchers, QAP Decision provides multi-disciplinary approaches to stimulate innovative technical and organizational change, as condition of sustainable development, in Europe and developing countries. This is being done for micro and small enterprise, agri-food industry and agriculture sustainable development programmes, aiming to consolidate economic sustainability within a perspective of environment and human health protection.
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The Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS)
The Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS) is an independent research institute attached to the Goethe University of Frankfurt. The main fields of research and consulting are the integration of agricultural with rural development and environmental objectives, the exploration of agricultural structural change, and of its determinants and implications, the monitoring and evaluation of the effects of agricultural policy with advice on policy formulation, and, related to that, concepts and programmes for supporting a sustainable development of rural areas. The main clients are the European Commission, Ministries of the Federal State (agriculture, regional development, environment, economy), the Länder, the Federal Environment Agency, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and various foundations and non-governmental organisations.
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Innsbruck University, Centre for Mountain Agriculture
The working group for Mountain Agriculture is established at the Institute for Sociology / University of Innsbruck. It has the responsibility to network agricultural research activities at the University of Innsbruck and to establish links between academia and the practical world. Main research themes include: rural and regional development, organic marketing initiatives and the preservation and development of ecologically sound management systems in mountain areas. The working group has substantial expertise in the field of organic farmers marketing initiatives, organic farming and regional development, market research in the organic food chain, regional food chains, the tourism industry, agricultural policy and issues of rural development.
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Baltic Studies Centre
Baltic Studies Centre (BSC) is an independent Latvian research organisation, established in 1991. The areas of BSC expertise include regional and rural development studies, sustainable agriculture, rural innovation, organic farming, analysis of food supply chains, public policy analysis in relation to Latvia’s integration into the European Union.
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Research Centre on Animal Production
Set up in 1972, CRPA - Research Centre on Animal Production provides both the private and public sector with the benefit of its experience in the fields of agricultural food production and environment. At the beginning of the 1990s, CRPA was officially recognized by the Emilia-Romagna Region as a centre for the organisation of research in the livestock sector, carrying out activities such as identification of the research needs put forward by stakeholders, definition and management of research and experimentation projects, transfer of research results to the public administration and operators of the livestock sectors.
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University of Aarhus,
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
The Faculty of Agricultural Science of the University of Aarhus has research activities at centres in Foulum, Bygholm, Aarslev, Flakkebjerg and Sorgenfri as well as four experimental stations. Furthermore, a research group is located at the Faculty of Life Science, University of Cogenhagen. Besides the basic service and administrative functions, units in support of the research have been established performing tasks relating to farm management and animal research facilities, library and IT-functions as well as information and documentation activities.
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Institute for Political Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Institute for Political Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) conducts theoretical, empirical and comparative research primarily in the field of political science, and to a considerable extent in the field of related social sciences as well. Its activity is characterised by a marked inter- and multidisciplinary approach. In order to enhance different kind of co-operations, research centres and research teams have been created. One of these groups is the research group of Social transformation and political economy of the European integration. Its main objective is to collect and analyse valid information on human capital, a factor of primary importance particularly for the Hungarian countryside in the European integration process
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Czech University of Agriculture in Prague
Czech University of Agriculture in Prague is one of the leading educational and research centres for the agrarian and food sector, forestry, environment, economics and management, rural and regional development in the Czech Republic. More than 13,000 students (bachelor, master and PhD.) are enrolled in the university now. The Faculty of Economics and Management, where the COFAMI team comes from, is ranked by the Czech government among the 6 top faculties of economics in the Czech Republic based on its educational and research achievements.
The project acknowledges the financial support of the Commission of the
European Community under the 6th Framework Programme “Integrating
and Strengthening the European Research Area, Policy-oriented Research”. 