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Description
Agriculture is central to the economy, culture and heritage in Orkney and the successful adoption of new research and technology may bring significant benefits to the islands. Key challenges to the industry are to increase the efficiency of food production while protecting and enhancing the natural environment. The Orcadians have a strong history of being successful innovators and are also aware of the unique opportunities available within Orkney's landscapes and communities. Improving connectivity and trust between researchers and islanders will help to maximise the benefits from new research and increase uptake of useful technologies. This report summarisies recent (2015-2025) agricultural research projects relevant to Orkney in a research directory that can be used to help collate and raise awareness of current research projects. A workshop was held on Orkney with local stakeholders to discuss their views on future research directions, knowledge gaps, how to improve local involvement and input and the potential for setting up a "Living Lab" on Orkney. Recommendations to move forward are to establish a Research Hub on Orkney to help coordinate research activity, communicate outputs and encourage collaborations and new funding streams. Establishing key links with the SEFARI Research Institutes is a timely opportunity as the new Scottish Government Strategic Research Programme is currently out for consultation and there are opportunities for researchers and stakeholders to co-design agriculture research questions relevant and useful for Orkney. To help support moving research into practice, demonstration fields, farms or specific managment practices could be tried out using UHI facilities to de-risk the testing of new technologies. The project also identified new opportunities for education, both secondary and tertiary, and training to encourage more people to take up careers in agriculture and to create new skilled jobs and opportunities on the isands.