The process whereby individuals or organizations bring existing or new products, processes and forms of organization into social and economic use to increase effectiveness, competitiveness, resilience to shocks or environmental sustainability, thereby contributing to food and nutritional security, economic development and sustainable natural resource management.
A network of actors or organizations, and individuals, together with supporting institutions and policies in the agricultural and related sectors, that brings existing or new products, processes, and forms of organization into social and economic use. Policies and institutions (formal and informal) shape the way that these actors interact, generate, share and use knowledge, as well as jointly learn.
The line, concept or elements that separate the inside from the environment.
The ability of people, organizations and society as a whole to manage their affairs successfully.
The process whereby people, organizations and society as a whole unleash, strengthen, create, adapt and maintain capacity over time.
The process directed to develop the skills or competencies of both scientific and non-scientific kinds required for the agricultural innovation system to perform effectively. Among other aspects, it works to develop and improve: linkages between producers and users of knowledge, the types of relationships and institutional setting conducive to knowledge sharing and interactive learning, a policy environment that is sensitive to the need to create the conditions needed to make productive use of knowledge rather than focusing solely on the creation of that knowledge and the science and technology and innovation policy foresight needed to prepare for the future.
Self-motivated and naturally emerging people who can influence the overall direction, specifically on issues that may arise in the life of the innovation process.
The process of developing knowledge in collaboration with societal stakeholders and practitioners.
The situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together. People engaged in collaborative learning capitalize on one another’s resources and skills (asking one another for information, evaluating each other’s ideas, monitoring one another’s work, etc.).
Implies questioning underlying assumptions and current ways of working, and looking for new strategies. It answers the question “are we doing the right things?”
The process whereby larger entities, patterns, and regularities arise through interactions among smaller or simpler entities that themselves do not exhibit such properties. It is a central concept of complexity theory. Change happens in an iterative way.
The context in which individuals and organizations put their competencies and capabilities into actions.
The notion that people learn from experience and build new knowledge on existing practice.
Individuals working towards developing the trust and consensus between actors that enables the learning process and to support actors in tracking and reflecting on the process of transformation. Neutrality, assurance of clarity of roles and networking abilities are key attributes of facilitators.
Those needed for an individual or organization to work effectively.
Ensuring that all marginalized and excluded groups are stakeholders in development processes.
The process of putting knowledge into use, be it in the form of technology, practice or a particular way of working.
The ability of people and organizations to create, organize and use knowledge for innovation.
A clearly identified and bounded institutional or geographical space where specific technologies or practices are put into work to improve existing conditions.
A group of individuals (who often represent organizations) with varying backgrounds and interests – farmers, agricultural input suppliers, traders, food processors, researchers, government officials, etc. – that come together to develop a common vision, to identify solutions to common problems or to achieve common goals.
The set of social norms and rules defining the environment within which interaction, learning and innovation takes place.
A novel idea that has been given form, e.g. as a diagram, model or technology, and has potential for application.
The process through which familiarity, awareness or understanding of someone or something, such as facts, information, descriptions or skills, is acquired through experience or education, by perceiving, discovering or learning.
The process of capturing, developing, sharing and effectively using organizational knowledge.
An organizational and operational mechanism bringing together all social actors having direct or indirect interests in a particular issue or problem.
An approach to research in communities that emphasizes participation and action. It seeks to understand the world by trying to change it, collaboratively and following reflec- tion. PAR emphasizes collective inquiry and experimentation grounded in experience and social history.
Process in which individuals observe the behaviour of others and its consequences, and modify their own behaviour accordingly.
An entity made up of interconnected elements within a boundary that separates the inside from the environment.
Methodology combining systems thinking with action research to support bottom-up efforts to change systems. It focuses on systemic inter-relationships to uncover their complex dynamics, often revealing unexpected opportunities. It emphasizes facilitated processes and system-wide learning.
Using the concept of system to conceptualize, analyse and/or intervene in a given issue or problem.
Unwritten, unspoken and hidden knowledge based on emotions, experiences, insights, intuition, observations and internalized information. It is difficult to articulate and communicate directly.
Knowledge and skills that are task- or mandate-specific, linked to organizational objectives and goals.
Focuses on challenging and changing the underlying values and assumptions and on solving problems that are complex. It answers the question “How do we decide what is right? (What is our theory of change?)”.
