Building capacity for short food supply chains through food processing workshops: Experience from the Horizon Europe RURBANIVE project

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  1. Lenka Kourimska ,  
  2. Marie Simpachova Pechrova
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Abstract

Background

Short food supply chains (SFSCs) are increasingly recognised as a means of improving the sustainability, resilience and economic viability of local food systems. However, many farmers and small-scale food producers lack the technological knowledge required to develop value-added products for direct sale. The Horizon Europe RURBANIVE project addresses these challenges through knowledge exchange, capacity building and innovation. Within this framework, practical food processing workshops were designed as multi-actor learning activities promoting collaboration between academia, farmers, food producers and public authorities and building their capacities. This study evaluated participants’ perceptions of the workshops and the potential contribution of those practical courses and digital learning platform for shortening the food supply chains.

Methods

Between 2025 and 2026, eight practical workshops on dairy, bakery, meat and brewing technologies were organised at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. The workshops combined theoretical lectures with hands-on demonstrations on pilot-scale processing lines. Overall, 122stakeholders participated, but only 92 (75.4%) of them completed an anonymous post-workshop questionnaire evaluating nine aspects of the educational activities. Digital learning platform Moodle has been developed as a follow-up of the workshops but cannot be evaluated yet.

Results

Participant satisfaction was very high. Almost all respondents were satisfied with the workshops, considered the objectives clear and highly rated the facilitators. The duration of the workshops and the balance between theory and practice were positively evaluated, while 77.2% of respondents expressed interest in attending similar events in the future. The workshops resulted in the development of digital learning platform with four production courses and one product marketing course.

Conclusions

Practical workshops effectively supported knowledge transfer and strengthened participants’ capacity to develop value-added products suitable for direct sales channels. Combined with digital learning tool, they provide a transferable model for supporting short food supply chains and more resilient local food systems.

Plain Language Summary

Short food supply chains help farmers and small food producers sell their products more directly to consumers. They can support local economies, reduce dependence on long supply chains and make local food systems more resilient. However, small producers may lack the practical knowledge and technical skills needed to develop new or higher-value food products.

As part of the Horizon Europe RURBANIVE project, we organised eight practical food processing workshops at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague in 2025 and 2026. The workshops focused on dairy, bakery, meat and brewing technologies. Participants first learned about the basic principles and then had the opportunity to see and discuss food processing on pilot-scale equipment. The workshops brought together farmers, food producers, researchers and representatives of public organisations.

In total, 122 people took part in the workshops, and 92 completed an anonymous questionnaire about their experience. The feedback was very positive. Participants were particularly satisfied with the workshops, their objectives and the facilitators. They also valued the combination of theoretical information and practical demonstrations. More than three quarters of respondents said that they would be interested in attending similar workshops in the future.

The workshops also led to the development of an online learning platform containing courses on food production and product marketing. Together, practical training and online learning can help small producers gain the knowledge needed to develop value-added products and sell them more directly to consumers, supporting stronger and more sustainable local food systems.

Corresponding author
Lenka Kourimska
0000-0002-1102-7239
Grant information

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme through the RURBANIVE (RUral-uRBAN synergies emerged in an immersIVE innovation ecosystem) project under Grant Agreement No. 101136597.

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Copyright
© 2026 Lenka Kourimska (Corresponding Author, Co-Author); Marie Simpachova Pechrova (Co-Author) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Authors & roles

Lenka Kourimska

Department of Microbiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Ceska Zemedelska Univerzita v Praze Fakulta agrobiologie potravinovych a prirodnich zdroju, Prague, Prague, 16500, Czech Republic

Roles
Corresponding Author, Co-Author, Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Funding Acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-1102-7239

Marie Simpachova Pechrova

Department of Information Technologies, Ceska Zemedelska Univerzita v Praze Provozne ekonomicka fakulta, Prague, Prague, 16500, Czech Republic

Roles
Co-Author, Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

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