Stakeholders explore pathways for a fair and sustainable digital transition in European agriculture
The CODECS project recently concluded policy foresight workshops on 30 and 31 March 2026. Organised by the James Hutton Institute and supported by the European Association for Innovation in Local Development (AEIDL), the event gathered policymakers, researchers, and EU representatives to map out a sustainable and equitable digital transition for European agriculture.
CODECS approach to digital agriculture
Over the two days, the workshops opened with an introduction from CODECS partners to highlight the project’s foundational work. Gianluca Brunori (CODECS Coordinator) and Livia Ortolani, both from the University of Pisa outlined the CODECS framework, which assesses digital technologies across three distinct levels: the business process at the firm level, the digital ecosystem, and the broader socio-ecological system. They explained that the project utilises Living Labs to explore digital tools aiming to identify policy interventions that enhance farmer readiness and regulate resource systems.
Building on this foundation, Emils Kilis from the Baltic Study Centre shared insights into the project’s approach to formulating policy recommendations. He asserted that future strategies must move beyond “business as usual” to address long-standing hurdles, noting that core challenges like data governance and human capital have remained largely unchanged for over a decade. To navigate this, he introduced nine thematic categories for recommendations while emphasising the need to mitigate the risk of private commercial actors capturing the agricultural innovation system.
Imagining 2040: the foresight exercise
Leanne Townsend from the James Hutton Institute introduced the foresight methodology, which uses a “backcasting” approach to help participants envision “plausible positive” futures for European farming in 2040. This work aligns with the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas (LTVRA), ensuring the project’s outputs contribute directly to evolving EU strategies, including the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Green Deal. By working backwards from these positive future scenarios, stakeholders identified the policies, actions, and conditions needed today to achieve those goals.
To ground these discussions, a 14-year technology timeline from 2012 to 2026 was presented to illustrate the rapid pace of past innovations, such as 5G and AI. This exercise was designed to move beyond exploratory discussion and instead identify specific support pathways required across diverse farm settings, from livestock management to orchards and vineyards.
Day 1: Building resilient supply chains and livestock systems
The first day of the policy foresight workshops focused on two key thematic areas: Short Supply Chains and Livestock and Farm Management Systems.
Discussions in the group on Short Supply Chains, emphasised the need for infrastructural resilience in remote or mountainous areas, suggesting that satellite systems and technology capable of offline operation are vital to prevent total dependence on high-speed fiber monopolies. They highlighted that technology developers must possess a strong understanding of the local environment to avoid “one-size-fits-all” solutions and advocated for transparency regarding return on investment and data governance. A significant portion of the discussion centered on human capital, with participants championing open-source software that allows farmers to “tinker” and repair equipment themselves, thereby utilising peer-to-peer networks and social capital to overcome the economic pressures and learning curves associated with an aging workforce.
The second group, centered on Livestock and Farm Management Systems, addressed the uneven adoption of digital tools between large and small-scale farms, proposing that networks, cooperatives, and monthly subscription models could help bridge the financial gap and maintain farm diversity. Participants called for better coordination between policy and finance mechanisms, moving away from a fragmented “tool-by-tool” approach, and emphasised the need for digital competency training for both farmers and the advisors who translate these technologies for them. While acknowledging that decision support tools are powerful for national compliance, the group insisted that data ownership and privacy must be clear, with data belonging definitively to the farmer. Furthermore, they raised concerns about the social impact of technology, specifically the risk that becoming physically remote from farming activities might erode a farmer’s sense of belonging and their connection to the land.
Day 2: Digitalisation across crops, from greenhouses to vineyards
The second day shifted focus toward Greenhouses and Irrigation, as well as Orchards and Vineyards.
In the discussion on Greenhouses and Irrigation, participants highlighted the necessity of a legal framework and unbiased advisory support to help farmers navigate an increasingly complex market of digital tools. The discussion underscored a potential widening digital divide between highly industrialised, high-tech greenhouses and traditional low-tech operations, raising concerns that small farms might be left behind or forced into “out-of-soil” industrial models that conflict with organic principles. Participants also engaged with the ethical and social risks of automation, specifically the fear that remote monitoring could lead to a detachment from the landscape and erode the farmer’s essential connection to nature.
Meanwhile, the discussion centered on Orchards and Vineyards, emphasised farmer collaboration and tool-sharing as vital pathways for small-scale growers to access technology without prohibitive costs. This group identified intergenerational renewal as a key driver for innovation, where younger family members often provide the necessary digital skills and trust to implement new systems. Furthermore, they explored how digitalisation could support biodiversity hotspots and the growth of urban fruit trees for heat mitigation, while also considering how climate change might shift agricultural identities, potentially leading to the emergence of vineyards in more northern climates like Scotland by 2040.
What’s next?
The findings from these workshops are a vital contribution to the upcoming CODECS toolbox of policy recommendations. These insights will help inform the post-2027 CAP and the EU’s rural vision. By offering transformative solutions, CODECS aims to ensure that the roadmap to 2040 is socially sustainable, resilient, and fair for every farmer in Europe.
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