Innovation Camps | Greece (Completed)
Co-creating practical Smart Crop Farming solutions.
The TECHCOACH Innovation Bootcamp in Greece brought together farmers, advisors and researchers at the Agricultural University of Athens to explore practical Smart Crop Farming solutions and strengthen collaboration across the agricultural innovation ecosystem. The Bootcamp focused on making Smart Farming technologies more accessible, practical and relevant for farms of different sizes, while creating space for participants to jointly develop ideas that respond to real challenges faced by farmers and advisors.
Date
28 May 2026
Location
Athens, Greece
Language
Greek
Focus challenges
Participants worked around thematic areas previously identified through the Greek TECHCOACH network:
- Exploring practical and lower-cost solutions that can make Smart Farming technologies more accessible to smaller agricultural holdings.
- Identifying ways to facilitate the uptake of Smart Farming technologies and make their practical value clearer to farmers.
- Strengthening the support available to farmers throughout the process of selecting, adopting and using new technologies.
- Improving collaboration between producers, advisors, researchers and technology providers to support access to knowledge and suitable solutions.
Highlights & outcomes
From challenges to practical ideas
Participants formed interdisciplinary teams of producers, advisors and researchers and selected one of the predefined thematic areas as the basis for their work. Through structured group discussions, expert mentoring and collaborative idea development, teams worked on practical solutions aimed at bringing Smart Crop Farming closer to farmers and advisors. Participants reported a high level of satisfaction with the hands-on format, while the mentoring sessions helped teams further develop and improve their initial ideas.
Winning Concept
A smart, low-cost incubator for on-site production of beneficial insects
The winning pitch was developed under the challenge “Affordable Smart Farming Solutions for Small Farms.” The team proposed a smart, low-cost incubator for the autonomous on-site production of beneficial insects, designed particularly for small farmers and cooperatives. The concept responds to challenges linked to the cost of purchasing beneficial insects, losses during transport and the complexity of producing them directly on farms.
Why it matters
The proposed incubator uses automated sensors to regulate key microclimate conditions including temperature, humidity and LED lighting, helping create suitable conditions for insect production and improve larval survival. By enabling beneficial insects to be produced directly on-site, the concept could:
- reduce procurement costs;
- minimise losses during transport;
- support more sustainable biological crop protection;
- make the solution accessible to small farms through cooperative or shared use;
- reduce the need for specialised entomological knowledge through automated operation and notifications.
What’s next
The Greek Innovation Bootcamp demonstrated the value of combining multi-actor collaboration, structured mentoring and practical idea development around real Smart Farming challenges.
The concepts and lessons generated through the Bootcamp contribute to TECHCOACH’s wider work on improving the accessibility and adoption of Smart Crop Farming solutions, while strengthening collaboration between farmers, advisors, researchers and other AKIS actors.