SHINE 2Europe, represented by Ângela Freitas, recently travelled to the green and idyllic farming area of Ekolsund, Sweden, to join the 4th General Assembly of the Horizon Europe project GUARDIANS – “Smart solutions to empower small- and medium-sized farms as Guardians of the territory”.
Hosted by IVL (Swedish Environmental Research Institute) and Naturbete, this meeting marked a key milestone in the project’s journey, its mid-term, two years after its launch. From June 17-18, 2025, project partners gathered to review progress and key achievements across all work packages and tasks.
The meeting was held in the Ekolsund Slott (Castle), an historic manor-house and formal royal residence of the Swedish Crown from 1542 until 1777. Surrounding landscapes include a garden, arboretum, water features, a historic deer park and a restaurant and cafe.
Beyond the relevant discussions held within the consortium, the meeting included a demonstration of the drone for field protection and wildlife management developed by FLOX (Swedish technological provider in the project), and a field visit to a grassland in a farm to see in loco to measure the health soil and biodiversity and to see an example of sustainable livestock production.
The consortium had also the opportunity to experience a typical Swedish Midsummer dinner, so nicely prepared by our colleagues from IVL and Naturbete.
SHINE 2Europe leads Work Package 2, which focuses on promoting farmer engagement and technology acceptance through social innovation. During this meeting, SHINE 2Europe presented the progress achieved over the past 24 months, along with plans for the upcoming semester. Key highlights included the successful implementation of a co-creation methodological framework and the development of various informational packages. These packages feature a comprehensive toolkit designed to support farmer engagement and foster technology acceptance, which is being applied across multiple phases of the project, from technology development and testbeds to pilot implementation and replication within cooperatives. Beyond a series of social innovation sessions with partners and external stakeholders, a total of 18 local workshops were held during the last 2 years, bringing together technology providers, farmers, cooperatives, and other relevant local stakeholders to discuss the challenges, needs, and expectations related to digital innovation in small and medium-sized farms.
With the goal of bridging the technological gap for small- and medium-sized farms, GUARDIANS aim to empower farmers through smart solutions and sustainable innovation. Funded by Horizon Europe, the project commenced in June 2023 under the FARM2FORK call for fair, healthy, and environmentally-friendly food systems.