Purpose: Engagement of non-academic stakeholders is an important element of education for sustainability, but is rarely mentioned in contemporary agricultural education literature. This article investigates the process of engagement of non-academic stakeholders into higher education programs on agriculture. Non-academic stakeholders refer to private firms that are focused on the acquisition of knowledge with the objective of achieving a competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach: Eleven cases of agricultural education at the undergraduate (Bachelor’s degree) and graduate (Master’s degree) levels in three different countries (Italy, Greece, Norway) were analysed through interviews with teachers and stakeholders and in-situ observations. Findings: Qualitative analysis revealed three categories of motivation (inspiration, marketing, sharing experience), two benefits (energy, problem-solving) and four combined categories (exchange, new knowledge, new workers, practical contribution). A conceptual model, developed in the study, provides guidelines for the engagement process, enabling more collaborative education approaches in agriculture and food. Practical implications: The proposed model provides educational institutions with a tool for assessing stakeholder engagement process in new/existing education initiatives, enabling transformation of education from narrow individual disciplines to integration of knowledge sources and a variety of learning arenas in education. Theoretical implications: Within the framework of university-industry collaboration in combination with action-oriented education for sustainability, findings provide unique insights into the engagement of stakeholders in education. Originality/value: This study contributes to knowledge by applying principles of action learning and focusing on the education side of engagement. The results demonstrated that engagement in action-oriented collaborative education offers several benefits to non-academic stakeholders. This was found to have real effects on farm businesses, manifested as changes in production processes and discovery of new marketing opportunities. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The current European agri-food and forestry (AFF) systems are perceived to be moving too slowly towards more sustainable agriculture, forestry, food and bio-based value chains. The European Green Deal and Farm to Fork (FtF) Strategy stress the importance of the sustainable transition of food systems that emphasize resilience and justice along food chains. In this direction, education and training (ET) are given a major role, constituting one of the pillars of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) framework. This study aims to propose an extended version of the AKIS framework to focus on the transition of policies concerning the ET pillar and to use this framework as a conceptual background with which to identify strategies for the improvement of ET policies in the AFF sectors. Data collection was undertaken through a round of workshops, and the data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. The results revealed that the need for a high-quality educational policy and the need to enhance collaboration, entrepreneurship and innovative learning methods were among the most important for the sector, where urgent changes in pace and an approach in ET are necessary for the entire value chain, from farm to fork. These results emphasize that pivoting the transition of ET systems toward achieving the Green Deal, FtF and new CAP objectives requires the development of policies that support student-centered and interdisciplinary education, while also being flexible and supported by non-formal and lifelong learning approaches. © 2024 by the authors.

Drawing upon literature from both impact assessment of development projects and agricul-tural research, the aim of this article is to analyse the pilot testing of a new multi-dimensional assessment framework for defining and evaluating the societal impact of agricultural research and corresponding education. The research approach involves an action research effort of pilot testing in three case studies from three different countries. The framework assumes a systems view, understands impact as socially embedded, and adopts the concepts of contribution and productive interactions rather than cause-and-effect attribution. The emerging experiences include developing both project-specific and universal indicators; gauging impacts at different levels and sustainability dimensions; handling the issues of attribution and time frame; and the role of stakeholder involvement. The results have the potential to support the development of a new role for impact assessment, by enabling principal actors in research and higher educa-tion institutions to take responsibility for contributing to concrete and demonstrable sustain-ability changes in society. © 2024 The Author(s).

This case study increases our understanding of Lean implementation in which value stream mapping (VSM) is used to create an action plan at a small dairy and cattle farm in southwest Sweden. The researchers, the farmer-owner, and farm employees followed a step-by-step approach that resulted in ideas for operational improvements for the dairy activity. Data were collected in interviews with the farmer/owner, researcher participation in workshops, and researcher observations. The results reveal that VSM is an effective way to create a culture of collaboration among the farm staff and to better define their roles and responsibilities as well as improve routines, communications, and task completion. In the two-to-three year period following the VSM project, specific improvements were observed in milk production/quality and animal health. The results also reveal that while Lean principles are relevant given the repetitive nature of agriculture routines and tasks, the VSM element of lead-time reduction is less relevant owing to the unique value adding biological processes in the agriculture sector. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Inderscience Publishers Ltd.