Responsible IPM transition pathways through co-creation workshops

Integrated pest management (IPM) adoption in European agriculture faces systemic barriers. This study, part of the Horizon Europe SUPPORT project (2023–2026), examines co-creation pathways for scaling IPM through backcasting workshops with stakeholders in the Dutch strawberry sector. Two workshops (September 2023, March 2024) engaged growers, policymakers, researchers, and advisors to envision sustainable farming by 2053. Despite participant representation gaps, both visions—high-tech greenhouse automation and high-nature organic systems—eliminated synthetic pesticides and integrated robotics for plant health monitoring. The process, involving presentations, group brainstorming, and plenary refinement, highlights consensus on sustainability. As part of a broader EU initiative, 32 workshops across eight countries will co-create visions, identify systemic changes, draft policy agendas, and evaluate outcomes by 2026. Findings demonstrate that collaborative backcasting can align internal motivations with external reforms, overcoming resistance to IPM transitions.