What was the challenge/problem addressed?

An innovative new technology was developing, allowing greenhouses to remain closed. This keeps the CO2 in the greenhouses and prevents warm air from leaving the greenhouse. Yet, fresh air and dehumidification are essential, so heat exchangers are needed. Multiple companies had invented something, but the ideal robust system taking into account the air flow in the greenhouses was not invented yet. The growers wanted to learn as quickly as possible because they were about to invest heavily in this new technology and wanted to avoid sunk costs by investing in a suboptimal system.

How did you solve the problem?

All greenhouse growers that applied at the national government for a subsidy (MEI-subsidy) were approached to participate in this project. They were the frontrunners that wanted to build a new greenhouse using this innovative technology. By bringing them together and eliciting their questions, workshops could be organised around the common questions. Researchers, advisors and sales people from technology companies were invited to bring in the latest insights, to support the growers in selecting the best system for their purpose.

What is innovative in your practical case?

The starting point is the technological innovation. The way we set up the workshops to have the growers learn quickly from eachother and from the invited speakers was an organizational innovation. The growers had control on the agenda, e.g., who to invite for the next meeting. The meetings were held in the growers own canteens.

What are the success factors in solving the problem?

Demand-driven (the growers decided on the topic for next workshop, and arranged for the location locally in the canteen at one of the participating growers), a unique selection of front-runner growers, mixture of researchers, growers, advisors, sales people, and a government representative. Everyone was very motivated to join because cutting-edge issues were discussed. And it was

Lessons learned

The most important lesson that we learned is that it is crucial to have the right people around the table. When you have people who are highly committed to absorb and share information and want to learn everything about something that is on top of their mind, the rest is unimportant. When the group decided on the next topic to dive into, it typically took us less than 20 minutes to organise a new workshop, including setting a date, inviting speakers (who were very enthusiastic to meet the frontrunner / investing growers), and arranging a location at one of the participants’ greenhouses. The task of the project team was to capture and report on the insights and facilitate the workshops. The rest ran by itself.

What role does the advisor or advisory service play with the practical case?

The network was formed by contacting the subsidy applicants, by the project team and the government representative. This network was quite stable. In every workshop new experts were invited. Usually just for one workshop. Some growers kept on having conversations with these experts, but this was outside of the project and usually entailed very specific questions about their planned investments.

Can your approach be transferred and/or adapted for other innovation challenges and regions?

Yes

Estimated transferability on a scale from 1 to 5

(where 1 is easy and 5 very difficult)

3

 

For sharing the experience on the good practice, please contact

Jos Verstegen

jos.verstegen@wur.nl

Link to external information

Workshop 1: https://edepot.wur.nl/333948

Workshop 2: https://edepot.wur.nl/333949

Workshop 3: https://edepot.wur.nl/333950

Workshop 4: https://edepot.wur.nl/333951