Designing and Structuring Action Learning

The question driving learning in this paper is how to organise and structure a complex action learning research network of practitioners and researchers in a pan-European network of traditional food producers. The context is an EU’s Seventh Framework Programme of a multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral collaborative project supporting a network of traditional food producers in dairy, meat and bakery sub-sectors. The project is aiming to establish a network for the effective transfer of innovative knowledge, processes and technologies with a view to improving traditional food production by providing training to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. While much of the literature on action learning focuses on systems developing their capacity to learn and change, this paper explores how the same principles can apply to action learning researchers working collaboratively.