Second set of recommendations for future research agendas

The SHERPA process identified gaps in current knowledge and priorities for future research relating to the themes covered in rounds 2, 3 and 4 of the SHERPA project. These gaps reflect the perspectives of the SHERPA Multi-Actor Platforms (MAPs) and the SHERPA Think Tank of weaknesses in the current evidence base in general or as it applies to their areas of responsibility. The SHERPA web crawler enabled the identification of information from EU research projects (principally Horizon 2020) that add evidence to the recommendations in research agendas developed from the SHERPA MAPs. Six areas of research agendas were developed comprising the topics debated by the MAPs, combining two that related to climate change of Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability, and Climate Change and Land Use, and bringing forward and updating one agenda from the first set of recommendations. The six research agendas are: • Climate change, environmental sustainability and land use; • Change in Production and Diversification of the Rural Economy; • Empowering Rural Areas in Multi-Level Governance Processes; • Sustainable and Resilient Value Chains; • Social Dimension of Rural Areas; • Observation, Measurement and Monitoring. The research needs identified in the agendas were mapped onto EU priorities reflected in the strategic orientations of Horizon Europe, the proposed or approved European Partnerships, the SCAR-AKIS Foresight Exercise Export Group, and the pillars of the EU’s Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas. The output shows that each agenda intersects several of the priorities identified in these strategic documents. The breadth and nature of the content of the agenda under the heading of Climate Change, Environmental Sustainability and Land Use matches onto the highest number of strategic priorities (15 of 19 reviewed). Some knowledge gaps will reflect MAP specific membership or geography of the MAPs, access to information, and perspectives on the types of knowledge (e.g. scientific evidence, practice knowledge) and institutional accessibility of data or tools. In due course, some of the knowledge gaps can be expected to be filled by more recently funded projects and so progress these research agendas. However, the bottom-up identification of gaps in knowledge and needs for research illustrates the approach of science-society-policy interfaces can contribute to a process of developing research for the public good. That is closely aligned to one aim of the Horizon Europe programme European Partnerships of promoting “societal, ecological and economic transformations by involving, collaborating with and building consensus among citizens and practitioners on research and innovation roadmaps and priorities.” The use of science, society and policy interfaces by SHERPA has enabled actors at local to EU levels to express their views on the needs for research and policy. The co-creation process has in itself contributed to delivering on the EU’s Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas through the building block of Creating a stronger innovation ecosystem in its pillar of Stronger rural areas.