Using Co-innovation to Stimulate Innovation in the New Zealand Agricultural Sector

A recently implemented research and development program; Co-learning and Coinnovation to Achieve Impact in New Zealand’s Biological Industries (Primary Innovation for short) aims to stimulate innovation in the New Zealand agricultural sector, which is an important contributor to the New Zealand economy, mainly through exports. The program is attempting to implement co-innovation principles, based on an Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) approach, in five Innovation Platforms (IPs), evaluate the processes and outcomes, and influence the national innovation system to enable implementation of co-innovation in practice. Three streams of work are used; an academic stream that translates between theory and practice, an application stream responsible for implementing co-innovation principles in five IPs and the Community of Practice, a stream responsible for “scaling up” i.e. influencing and stimulating change at the innovation system level. Reflexive monitors in the IPs and leadership team ensure that coinnovation principles are applied and that adaptive management occurs. The use of reflective practice in the program ensures that co-innovation principles are consistently used at all levels. This paper describes how the program was implemented and highlights the lessons learned during the first 14 months of the program against a backdrop of AIS theory, principles and practices.