Building an Agri-Food Ecosystem in the Netherlands

The Lab is  heading back to The Netherlands. We are working with our Dutch partner, Human Insight,  on a workshop to develop  an innovation and entrepreneurial  ecosystem in agribusiness and food in The Netherlands. We are working with the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the food accelerator, FoodStars, to organize this workshop.  The ministry is inviting a full range of potential actors in this new ecosystem: entrepreneurs, small and midsize enterprises, large companies, research institutes, knowledge hubs, investors, and government agencies. The session is scheduled for April 27, when we are in The Netherlands.

The design challenge for the session begins with the “framing question”. We view this step as critical to setting the boundaries of a complex system. We’ve presented several alternatives. 

  • Imagine that we have a vibrant innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in agri-food that attracts worldwide attention. What would that look like?
  • How could we collaborate to create an agri-business ecosystem that accelerates innovation with start-up and innovating companies?
  • The Netherlands has a number of exciting agri-food initiatives underway. Through stronger collaborations, could we create a more vibrant entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem? What would that look like?
  • Imagine a more vibrant agri-business ecosystem in the The Netherlands look like? What would that look like? How could we speed resources to both start ups and innovating companies?

We will circle back as the planning for this session takes shape.