Agrobiodiversity Innovation Challenge

The Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP) and the IFSS Portal teams collaborated to offer an orientation session and Backcasting process to all applicants of the Agrobiodiversity Innovation Challenge 2021. 

This orientation session was open to challenge applicants on Monday 17 January from 14:00 – 15:30 CET. Innovators were introduced to the Backcasting process, a self-guided acceleration framework, using the interactive online Pathway-To-Impact builder tool (more information available HERE). Backcasting helps innovators to anticipate and prioritize problem solving, taking an innovative systems approach while highlighting impact targets for both planetary and human health. 

The video recording of the session is available HERE.

What is Backcasting, and Why? 

Participants were introduced to the Backcasting tool online on the IFSS portal and walked through instructions and guidelines on how to use it on their own or with their teams. Backcasting can help to clarify an impact vision in the future and then support the process of working backwards to identify concrete steps, key actors, key barriers (and strategies to overcome these barriers) and essential elements to help increase the uptake and impact of innovative solutions in the food systems space.

Partnership with Accelerate for Impact Platform 

The A4IP harnesses science and entrepreneurialism to co-design and scale disruptive science-based solutions and innovations to transform food, land and water systems. This venture-focused Research for Development platform is designed to bridge science and entrepreneurship to respond to the need to scale existing research products that are at the pre-commercial stage or in the conceptual form. It is also intended to stimulate and fund the most visionary teams working on cutting-edge areas of research and explore game-changing solutions that will bring the most impact, taking them to market at an unprecedented speed. https://alliancebioversityciat.org/tools-innovations/accelerate-impact-platform

Stay tuned to the activities of the Accelerate for Impact Platform and check out its year in review: https://alliancebioversityciat.org/stories/a4ip-2021