A few notes on Monday's seminar

The BSC team organised a seminar on Monday (23 April) to discuss, and receive feedback on, two projects that BSC researchers are currently working on. The first part of the seminar was dedicated to INNOFRUIT. Anda Ādamsone-Fiskoviča (BSC) and Edgars Rubauskis (Institute of Horticulture, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies) gave presentations, which were followed by a collective SWOT analysis, moderated by Tālis Tisenkopfs (BSC). 

The second part of the seminar was an interactive discussion regarding the Agrilink living lab. I gave a short presentation just to bring everyone up to speed. We then moved on to the discussion. The main aim of the discussion was to gain a better understanding of the most popular forms of advice provision and advisory assistance in general. A  secondary aim was to continue the process of building our living lab. Even though we got off to a bumpy start, the discussion as a whole was a moderate success.

It was clear that face-to-face meetings with farmers and producers were the most popular form of providing assistance to farmers and producers. Direct communication between client and advisor can minimise the risk of misinterpretation and misapplication, and allows the advisor to get a more nuanced understanding of the particular problem or situation that needs to be addressed. Concurrently, it allows the client to gain a better sense of whether the advisor in question is competent and has the necessary experience.

However, this particular form has a number of downsides. First of all, it is a comparatively expensive service. Secondly, the number of advisers with the requisite expertise is small, and they are not spread out evenly. This means that farmers and producers in some areas are in a better position to receive assistance.

Other forms were also discussed. Videos and presentations posted online were argued to have their uses, but participants emphasised that these methods involve a certain element of risk. Specifically, there is no telling whether the person who made the video is competent. Furthermore, viewers may misinterpret the contents of the video, which may have an adverse effect on their farm. Articles in specialised publications were considered to be a better option because editors could generally ensure that the contents were of sufficient quality. The usefulness of other online and mobile tools was believed to depend on the situation, though some advisers noted that technologically proficient clients were open to using them.

Participants reiterated their support for a platform that would contain up-to-date information regarding the available advisory services and allow farmers and producers to efficiently navigate the advisory system. It was argued that having everything in one place would be very useful, and participants were open to the idea of participating in the construction of this online platform. However, they were worried that practicalities (e.g. funding, need for IT professionals who could manage this platform) might get in the way of the project.

I would like to conclude this entry with some reflections regarding my role as monitor. One of my responsibilities (as I understand them) is to stimulate reflection among stakeholders and participants. After the training event in Leuven, I started to think more about unanticipated consequences and the interests of different stakeholders. I suddenly realised that our living lab could potentially make the advisory system more transparent to clients and stimulate competition between advisers. Indeed, one of the advisers present at the Monday meeting compared our proposed platform to something like booking.com – you could leave reviews and help others choose the best adviser. 

One of the possible side effects of this is that advisers with established client bases may lose clients. I raised this point at the meeting, but most participants were unsure whether this would be the case. There are simply too few advisers working in Latvia. Nonetheless, I shall have to keep my eyes and ears open and be sensitive to potential obstacles to cooperation that could have an adverse effect on the overall goals of the living lab. Furthermore, as the living lab takes shape, I will have to think of news ways of making team members think about the unanticipated consequences of their ideas and proposals.

In conclusion,  the meeting was a success for both projects. In the case of Agrilink, we moved ever-so-slightly forward, started thinking about the practical requirements of our platform, and our facilitator (Dalija Segliņa) showed that she feels comfortable leading discussions and facilitating a free-flowing exchange of ideas.

Best,

Emils

Drifting off topic

I was inspired to write this entry as a result of my thinking about blackboxing.  In science studies, blackboxing generally refers to processes of simplification that tend to hide the internal complexity of science and technology. This idea is associated with the work of Bruno Latour, who also co-wrote Laboratory life. My mind went off on a tangent, and I started thinking about living labs... and Linux.

I am a Linux user, by which I mean that all my computing devices run some form of Linux. Some of the reasons for this are practical in nature, while others are more philosophical. For example, Linux operating systems are generally more respectful of user privacy (Android is a significant exception) and do not “phone back home”. An additional aspect of the Linux world that I find endearing is the emphasis on transparency. It is most pronounced in the case of Arch Linux, which is one of the more extreme expressions of Linux. An excellent illustration of what I mean is encapsulated in a quote by the developer of Arch Linux, Aaron Griffin.

Relying on complex tools to manage and build your system is going to hurt the end users. [...] "If you try to hide the complexity of the system, you'll end up with a more complex system". Layers of abstraction that serve to hide internals are never a good thing. Instead, the internals should be designed in a way such that they NEED no hiding.

What does this have to do with living labs? Well, I reckon that, as a monitor, one of my responsibilities is to document the evolution of the living lab. The “process of becoming” will likely be messy for most living labs, but the purpose of documenting this process is that others can learn from you and your mistakes, and try out tools and approaches that have been useful for you.  In short, I see it as a matter of (i) keeping your internals open for inspection and (ii) showing that innovative learning emerged through exploratory tinkering that was integral to the whole enterprise. Accidents and failures do not need to be edited out or hidden.

In other words, I hope to do the opposite of blackboxing.

Best,

Emils

Meeting with the facilitator (5 April 2018)

The BSC team had a meeting with Dalija Segliņa, who has graciously accepted the role of facilitator as part of the Agrilink Living Lab project. While there was no set agenda, the overall purpose of the meeting was to discuss possible strategies of going forward with the living lab project.

Firstly, there was some debate regarding the actual form of the online platform that our project is aiming towards. Will it be a list of all the available resources? Will it be a full-fledged database or just a prototype? What is more, who will be in charge of maintaining it? We did agree that it would be a good idea to try to attach the living lab to an existing resource – perhaps one that was created as a part of the INNOFRUIT project. Dalija agreed to check whether this is possible. This, however, brought us to the question of ownership – who will own the tools developed as part of the living lab?

Secondly, we discussed who should be involved in the creation of the living lab. It was obvious that both service providers and end users should be engaged. I expressed my concerns regarding the involvement of agricultural advisors with a solid client base, because I thought that they might see our platform as a threat – as a way for other advisors to poach their clients. We also discussed that  users should be encouraged to voice their needs. In relation to this, Dalija promised that she would take a look at the historical record to see what people have requested in terms of advice and training. Overall, it was agreed that there should be something like a core living lab team that would participate at most meetings and events and ensure continuity.

Thirdly, we discussed the possibility of organising living lab meetings as part of bigger events (e.g. agricultural conferences). This would allow us to engage a wider audience and receive their input. 

Fourthly, we discussed the particular form that the living lab meetings could take. They would certainly involve presentations and discussions, but some thought should be given to developing forms and activities that are conducive to the emergence of new forms of communication and collaboration. In other words, our meetings should be sufficiently open so as not to hinder innovation. 

Most importantly, we agreed that we will try to organise our next meeting with stakeholders and living lab allies on 27 April.

Best,

Emils