On 25 June 2026, VISION4FOOD held its second co-creation workshop in Thessaly, Greece, with participants from public authorities, industry and SMEs, academia and research, civil society organisations, producer groups and consumers. The session was led and facilitated by Evangelos Akrivoulis.
The workshop started by revisiting the outcomes of the first session. Participants recalled the main needs identified earlier: stronger climate resilience, more sustainable water management, faster uptake of innovation and digital tools, more competitive local products and closer collaboration between regional actors.
From these discussions, two main missions were developed. The first, “Resilient and Smart Water Management in Thessaly”, aims to improve water efficiency and climate resilience through smart irrigation, precision agriculture, better water infrastructure, farmer training and closer cooperation between public authorities, research organisations and producers. Water management organisations, universities and research institutes, and farmers’ cooperatives were identified as lead stakeholders.
The second mission, “Reducing Production Costs through Innovation and Digital Technologies”, aims to make the regional agri-food sector more competitive by lowering production costs. Planned activities include promoting digital farming solutions, improving access to digital tools and advisory services, and strengthening knowledge transfer between research, industry and producers. The Region of Thessaly, the University of Thessaly, research and innovation organisations, farmers’ cooperatives and agri-food businesses will play a leading role.
Participants also worked on the practical steps needed to move these missions forward. Immediate actions include mapping regional priorities and existing initiatives and identifying farmers’ needs regarding technology adoption. In the medium term, the aim is better regional coordination on water governance and wider use of precision farming. Awareness-raising, training, pilot initiatives and knowledge exchange were seen as the most feasible first steps, while large-scale investments and permanent governance structures were recognised as longer-term ambitions. Possible sources of funding include the Common Agricultural Policy, Horizon Europe, Interreg, the European Regional Development Fund, national and regional programmes and private investment.
Additionally, the workshop looked at how the work can continue over time. The Region of Thessaly was identified as the main coordinating body, working with academia, producer organisations, businesses and civil society through a participatory, consensus-based approach. Participants saw value in exchanging knowledge with other VISION4FOOD pilot regions facing similar challenges in climate resilience and water management, and called for more producers, young entrepreneurs and local community representatives to be involved in future activities.