The Rapid Scaling Tool
About this good practice
The Rapid Scaling Tool was produced under the FAIRCHAIN project, funded by the Horizon 2020 Program (grant agreement No. 101000723). It is a collaboration between Ghent University, IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis) and RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden). The RST is a part of a PhD (Van Parys, E. 2024. Strategic marketing research for responsible innovation in shorter food supply chains. Ghent University, Belgium) and is being disseminated as we speak.
The Rapid Scaling Tool is a complete work package with workshop materials and a user guide. It is free and easily accessible which contributes to the adoption of sustainable methodologies in the agri-food industry.
The RST can provide insight on certain innovations and their impact. It is a tool to research if an innovation would have rather good or bad outcomes according to the Sustainable Development Goals. That means the user can easily identify and avoid bad impacts, and he can implement the good ones. This impacts and changes business strategies at the core.
The main purpose of the tool is to reflect about new developments in a business. It serves as the first step when thinking about implementing an innovation to have a quick
overview of where possible positive or negative impacts might occur.
Resources needed
None - maybe someone who guides the workshop, but apart from that, nothing is needed.
Evidence of success
One of the case studies done during the development of the tool, revolves around a Swedish berry picking farm. The tool proved to be of the greatest importance since the farm is working a lot more efficiently and effectively than before.
During a workshop on an algae farming case, a lot of interesting problems and solutions came up. The producer can immediately implement these, which has an immediate impact on his strategy, production, methodology and product improvement.
Potential for learning or transfer
The tool can be used in various domains and sectors and by all kinds of producers, farmers and other stakeholders. It is free and easy to use.
The RST can serve as a first step when considering the implementation of an innovation to gain an overview of where potential positive or negative impacts may occur.
