CODECS

CODECS is a four-year project funded under the European Commission “Horizon Europe” programme. The project aims to support farmers and growers across Europe to improve their understanding of the social, economic and environmental benefits and costs of digital tools, enabling them to adopt relevant digital tools in order to enable sustainable and transformative change.

The project will work with groups of stakeholders in 20 different European regions, representing diverse types of farming systems. In Scotland, we hope to work with farmers and the organisations that support them to understand the role of digital platforms and other digital tools on small farms (e.g. crofts, smallholdings and market gardens) – both for their farming activities and diversified activities such as farm shops, tourist accommodation and educational workshops. Through workshops and other activities we will work together to explore a range of digital tools and  platforms (e.g. social media, selling platforms), and look at how these have been used in similar settings and with what outcomes. We will create a supportive environment for knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer learning on available digital tools to boost the capacity of small farms to take advantage of these resources in a way which fits with their values and everyday practices. We also hope to establish a demo farm where best practice with digital platforms can be demonstrated, through in-person visits and virtual demonstration. As well as supporting farmers in making the most of available tools, the research will also build concrete recommendations for support organisations and policy makers in terms of how they can provide digital support to small farms in the coming years. 

The Scottish case study is led by Leanne Townsend at James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, supported by Tim Pittaway and Christina Noble and Niamh Mahon. The project started in October 2022 and will run until the end of September 2026.

For more information, feel free to contact: Tim Pittaway tim.pittaway@hutton.ac.uk