ORGANIC ECOSYSTEM organises a Living Lab to voice the concerns of local agriculture operators

Last March 2023, the city of Aqaba (Jordan) welcomed stakeholders of the organic agriculture sector from across the Mediterranean. Among the many activities that took place during a week-long event, there was a Living Lab open to representatives from both the public and the private sector. The 40 participants were divided into groups for a workshop meant to collect their insights on:  

• Management  
• Digitalisation  
• Branding  

The different stakeholders came from Jordan, Lebanon, Greece, Spain, and Italy. Therefore, using a workshop methodology was a good way to enhance cross-border cooperation.   

Find below some lessons learned. 

Quality management and leadership  

• Quality management includes customer focus, improvement, relationship management, process approach, evidence-based decision-making, engagement with people, and leadership.  
• Leadership is about direct interaction with the team members and understanding they are the true asset of the business place.  
• Leadership is a cross-cutting tool. The ideal leadership should be situational, it should not be rooted in a single managerial style (i.e. directing, coaching, supporting, delegating) but rather adapt to the situation at hand in order to enhance the efficiency, knowledge, experience, and loyalty of the team members.  

Digitalisation  

• The digital mindset is a way to improve one’s business but it is nothing without people: both as customers and as collaborators. That’s why sometimes it’s smart to test products and collaborations before going online.  
• Digitalisation is useful for data collection, cutting costs, improving efficiency, going global, traceability and transparency.  

Branding  

• Product development should meet customers’ needs. In this sense, it would be interesting to foster partnerships between operators to improve the customer experience and satisfaction levels.  
• We need to promote research, the development of technologies, a traceability system, and appropriate certification standards.  
• There are some strategies to make organic products more attractive: from logo design to using eco-friendly packaging materials and telling the story behind the brand, as well as developing digital marketing campaigns.  
• There needs to be a public-private partnership that changes the perception of organic agriculture both among the suppliers and the consumers. 

All participants agreed that being organic is not an option, it’s a must: offering healthy products is a responsibility. That’s why it should be embedded at a strategic level in all companies.