The COREnet project, an Horizon EU funded project coordinated by the University of Foggia, deals with Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs), which contribute to more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food systems. The project is aimed at enhancing SFSCs development and scalability through the collaborative knowledge sharing among stakeholders. COREnet began in September 2022 and involves 15 partners from across the EU.

Despite SFSCs potential, barriers such as institutional challenges and farmers' knowledge gaps hinder their growth. COREnet will address these issues by creating a pan-European peer-to-peer learning network for SFSC experts, fostering knowledge exchange, and promoting effective advisory services. The project will integrate SFSC guidance into the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), feeding into policy recommendations at EU level, supporting advisors with new tools and disseminating innovative solutions.

COREnet, together with its twin project EU4Advice, focuses on improving the competitiveness and sustainability of SFSCs by activating and mobilising advisors to adopt and share best practices. This approach requires interacting with existing formal and informal advisors, producers, consumers and adopting a more holistic and joint approach across the food supply chain.

A key aspect of this initiative is the creation of the European SFSC Advisory Network, which begins with mapping SFSC advisors from EU member states, to understand their profiles, services, and areas of interest. This growing and long-lasting network is evolving, ultimately creating a strong ecosystem for the effective transfer of knowledge among stakeholders in Europe. Advisors with expertise in SFSCs are invited to join the first thematic European Advisory Network to exchange knowledge, share best practices, and contribute to the growth and sustainability of SFSCs across Europe. Registered experts are then listed in a public advisors' database available on our EU projects website and linked with other impactful EU funded initiatives.

This focus on strengthening advisory services is also exemplified by the inclusion of Golden Cases and Lighthouse Projects. Golden Cases serve as illustrative examples of successful SFSC models that have achieved both business success and sustainability. These cases are not intended to be geographically comprehensive but focus on showcasing a variety of SFSC types, advisory approaches, and service arrangements. All identified Golden Cases are available online in our Knowledge Hub, easy to access and download for getting further information and peer-to-peer learning.

“The Golden Cases identified will also provide a basis for the development of Lighthouse Projects. COREnet interest lies in SFSC models that can be scaled in terms of numbers of stakeholders participating, products offered for sale, sales volumes and impacts. In this regard, COREnet will push the interest in SFSC models through replication and adoption in other geographical contexts, contributing with dedicated open calls to support new SFSCs Lighthouse Projects among EU Member States“. – Fedele Colantuono, COREnet project manager.

One Golden Case example is the Agrimarket CAMPAGNA AMICA - Cagliari, located in Sardinia, which operates a network of diverse market establishments. The Agrimarket is a SFSC model promoted by Coldiretti Sardinia within the Campagna Amica network and coordinated at national level by the Campagna Amica Foundation. This initiative strengthens the connection between local producers and consumers by allowing producers to sell their fresh products directly in local food markets, without the intervention of any intermediary. This is a valuable case where, thanks to a well structured SFSC advisory service, the producers receive support in the organization of the market and on the prices, but also of the technical, quality and governance support that is needed to build a strong and organized short food supply chain system. At the same time, consumers have a better knowledge of the producer's activities and are supported on the product choices, for example nutritional properties, recipes, and conservation methods. This and other cases highlight the importance of tailored advisory support in ensuring the success and growth of SFSCs across different contexts.

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Article Authors: Ludovica Guerrieri (ICONS) and Fedele Colantuono (University of Foggia).

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