Capacity building activities for policy makers, BEATLES Deliverable 5.3

This deliverable reports the mutual learning and capacity-building activities carried out within the BEATLES project. It documents how BEATLES engaged policymakers, policy advisors, researchers, advisory actors and other policy-relevant stakeholders to support the uptake of project findings on Climate-Smart Agriculture. The deliverable focuses on the EU Multi-Actor Working Group, which was established as a structured space for dialogue between BEATLES partners and external stakeholders. Through this process, participants discussed project findings, assessed their relevance for policy diagnosis, design, implementation and monitoring, and contributed to translating evidence into more actionable policy messages. The Working Group was implemented through three online pan-European workshops and one final policy session. These activities addressed CAP reform and Climate-Smart Agriculture, the co-design of policy solutions for CSA adoption towards 2030 and 2040, fairness in EU agri-food policy, and the presentation and discussion of BEATLES policy recommendations and tools. In addition to the workshops, the deliverable reports complementary capacity-building activities, including contributions to EU consultations and policy processes, policy briefs, exchanges with other BEATLES work packages, dissemination activities and synergies with other Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects, EU networks and related initiatives. Overall, more than 200 relevant actors were engaged through the activities, and 97% of feedback respondents reported feeling better informed after the three online workshops. The Working Group also exceeded its target for policy engagement, with 47 policymakers and policy-relevant actors participating across the workshop series. This document also explains how policy-oriented outputs contribute to the project’s exploitation and sustainability strategy, particularly in relation to policy recommendations and tools, co-creation activities and advisory support materials. Overall, the deliverable shows how the EU Multi-Actor Working Group acted as a bridge between BEATLES research outputs and their potential policy uptake, helping to validate findings, support mutual learning, strengthen capacity among policy-relevant actors and create practical routes for future use.