I would like to express my interest in joining consortia under Topic 2: Strengthening farmers’ involvement and empowerment in the transition towards agroecology, with a particular focus on Subtopics 2.1, 2.2 and 2.4 of the 3rd co-funded call. I have over a decade of experience in agricultural, rural and innovation policy research, including two Horizon 2020 projects on sustainable and resilient EU farming systems (SURE-Farm and LIFT), with the strong focus on impact of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on the resilience of farming systems. My work combines top-down policy analysis with bottom-up qualitative research on farming system resilience, ecological approaches in rural development, agri-environmental governance and innovation ecosystems.

Fit with Topic 2 and subtopics 2.1, 2.2 and 2.4:
Subtopic 2.1 – Farmers’ communities and motivations for engagement
Together with my team, I can contribute to the design and implementation of qualitative and mixed-methods research on farmers’ motivations, values and perceived barriers to agroecological transition.
Subtopic 2.2 – Collective action, peer learning and social innovation
Laurea’s Living Labs are well suited to act as agroecology living labs or living-lab-like environments, hosting co-creation processes with farmers, advisors, value-chain actors, municipalities and civil society.
Subtopic 2.4 – Role of policies, advisory services and AKIS
I have a strong expertise at the science–policy interface, including CAP-focused projects, regional innovation policy work in Tampere Region, and experience in drafting policy-relevant outputs. I can:
• Analyse how EU, national and regional policies enable or constrain agroecological transitions and farmer empowerment;
• Map and assess advisory services and AKIS structures, including the role of responsible research and innovation (RRI) and living labs in making advisory systems more participatory, inclusive and agroecology-oriented;
• Co-develop policy recommendations and science-policy dialogues in collaboration with AGROECOLOGY’s WP2 and WP7 activities on science–policy interfaces and living labs.

Proposed roles in a consortium:
In consortia under Topic 2, my team in Laurea UAS and I are particularly interested in roles such as:
• Leading or co-leading a work package or task,
• Acting as national or regional case study lead for Finland, providing access to Living Lab environments and stakeholder networks
• Contributing to comparative cross-country synthesis, policy recommendations and dissemination to both academic and non-academic audiences.

I am open to joining existing consortia or co-developing new ones that seek to strengthen farmers’ involvement and empowerment in the agroecological transition across Europe.

Laurea University of Applied Sciences, based in the Greater Helsinki region, is a long-standing pioneer of the Living Lab approach and has been an active member of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) since the network was founded. Laurea also held the ENoLL presidency from 2015–2018, underscoring its leading role in shaping European open-innovation ecosystems.

Laurea has strong expertise in designing and orchestrating multi-stakeholder collaboration, bringing together citizens, companies, public authorities and researchers. It currently runs dozens of RDI projects that apply Living Lab and co-creation methodologies, including several focused on food systems. Through its Living Labs, Laurea provides real-life testbeds for rapid prototyping, user-driven innovation and sustainable solutions, positioning the university as a European frontrunner in applying Living Lab principles to education, research, policy development and wider system transformation.