Living Laboratories Initiative: International engagement and partnerships

While implementing the Living Laboratories Initiative at home, Canada is also a leader in the development and implementation of living labs internationally. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada presented the idea of "agroecosystem living labs" during the May 2018 G20 Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists in Argentina.

As a follow-up, Canada and the United States co-led a working group to exchange views of the current use of the approach, identify common challenges and best practices, and report their findings at the April 2019 G20 Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists in Tokyo, Japan. The working group was comprised of eleven countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States) as well as the European Commission.

Other efforts to promote and collaborate on the agroecosystem living labs approach include:

  • Canada participated in the workshop titled "Scaling Up and Out of Climate-Smart Technologies and Practices for Sustainable Agriculture" in Tokyo in 2019 to discuss how Canada’s approach to agroecosystem living labs can support the development of these technologies and practices.
  • Canada is working with the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment to discuss their respective experiences in implementing networks of agroecosystem living labs.
  • Canada is collaborating on a European Commission project called ALL-Ready, which will lay the foundations for a potential future network of agroecology living labs and related research networks across Europe.
  • Canada is contributing to the formation of an international working group on living labs related to agriculture and agri-food through the European Network of Living Labs.
  • Canada is an active collaborator of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network.

To discuss opportunities for international collaboration regarding the agroecosystem living labs approach, please contact aafc.livinglaboratories-laboratoiresvivants.aac@agr.gc.ca.