On 19 May 2026, the CODECS project hosted its third science-policy interface meeting, bringing together researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders to bridge the gap between scientific evidence and actionable policy for the digital transformation of agriculture. Organised by the Baltic Studies Centre and the European Association for Innovation in Local Development, the event served as a critical platform to present findings on how digital ecosystems can be built to maximise the net benefits of technology while addressing the complex social, economic, and environmental trade-offs inherent in farm digitalisation.
Opening the workshop, CODECS Coordinator Gianluca Brunori (University of Pisa) emphasised that the project’s overarching goal is to improve the collective capacity to assess and foresee the full spectrum of digitalisation’s impacts, moving beyond a simple “technological fix” to build digital ecosystems that maximise net benefits. This assessment framework operates across three distinct levels: the business process, the digital ecosystem, and the broader socio-ecological system, ensuring that social and environmental trade-offs are as carefully measured as economic gains.
The workshop provided a critical look at the evolving EU policy landscape, with Dr Serafin Pazos-Vidal from the European Association for Innovation in Local Development (AEIDL) outlining how digitalisation must be embedded into the upcoming National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) for 2028–2034. Discussions highlighted the importance of aligning these efforts with the Common European Agricultural Data Space (CEADS) to ensure European regulatory sovereignty and to create a more holistic approach that overcomes traditional policy silos between agriculture, rural development, and innovation.
Then, presentations focused on presenting the policy tools and recommendations developed within the CODECS projects.
Future-oriented insights were provided by Niamh Mahon (James Hutton Institute), who shared results from policy foresight workshops that explored pathways for European agriculture toward 2040. This work identified eight cross-cutting themes, notably the diverse levels of digital maturity across Europe and the potential for technology to impact traditional farming identities. The findings suggest that digitalisation is a contextual solution that requires governance frameworks prioritising fairness, accountability, and the role of youth in easing intergenerational transitions.
Emils Kilis from the Baltic Studies Centre presented the emerging CODECS policy recommendations which are now clustered into nine thematic categories ranging from equity and inclusion to data governance and independent knowledge systems. These recommendations are rooted in the conviction that agricultural digitalisation is now an implementation challenge rather than a knowledge gap, necessitating a shift toward “farmer-centric” policies that reduce administrative burdens and reframe digital tools as an extension of, rather than a replacement for, agronomic expertise.
Moreover, Blanca Casares Guillén and Raquel Pastor Carretero (AEIDL) presented practical tools designed for policymakers and local authorities. These include a “checklists for public investment” tailored to specific technology types and project lifecycles (from initial needs assessment to long-term impact evaluation) and “guidelines for local digitalisation strategies” that provide a step-by-step roadmap for inclusive, data-informed planning. These tools aim to systematise decision-making and translate complex qualitative factors into measurable indicators, helping to bridge the gap between high-level EU goals and local realities.
Finally, Alexandra Aslanidou (GreenSupplyChain) presented the results from the Farmtopia project. A central contribution of the Farmtopia is the development of a Technology Code of Conduct for the Agricultural Sector, which aims to provide a more comprehensive, farmer-centered framework than previous voluntary codes by including specific provisions for software, hardware, interoperability, and the right to repair.
In the second part of the meeting, participants split into two breakout groups to discuss the main outputs shared during the morning. The breakout group on policy tools concluded that while their resources were intentionally designed for simplicity to ensure accessibility, their practical application is often hindered by a lack of granular, territorial-level data. Participants in this group also highlighted the difficulty of balancing bottom-up local strategies with top-down mandates, noting that intangible political differences between government levels often obstruct necessary coordination. They further emphasized the need to strengthen monitoring and evaluation systems to better understand long-term impacts and reconcile the diverse interests of different farm operators.
Concurrently, the policy recommendations group identified a critical gap in “social infrastructure,” concluding that trust and collaborative networks are just as essential for technology adoption as physical connectivity. This group argued that for policies to be truly farmer-centric, they must incorporate co-design procedures that empower producers to help determine their own performance indicators. Experts also advocated for integrating climate resilience more explicitly into future recommendations, specifically addressing topics like soil protection and nature-based solutions. Ultimately, the workshop determined that the success of these measures should be measured by the increased security and resilience felt by farmers in their daily routines
Recordings and a highlights’ report from the event will be published soon. This workshop marked the final event organised as part of the CODECS Knowledge Accelerator. The project’s final results will be presented during the final conference, taking place on 15-16 September in Brussels, Belgium. Registration for the conference will open soon.
