Operational Groups can include partners from very different backgrounds such as farmers, foresters, advisers, researchers, industry representatives and more. 'Innovation support services', and in particular 'innovation brokering', can play a crucial role in getting worthwhile projects off the ground by bringing people together.

Many individuals and organisations across Europe are offering support to Operational Groups. This can be in the form of brokerage in the early stages of a project: identifying partners, clarifying objectives, and even helping to write the funding application. Innovation support services may organise brokerage events or set up online platforms where people can meet and begin to make plans for their innovation project. Innovation support can then also be in the form of facilitation during the lifetime of the project.

Jean-Marc Gautier supported Operational Group (OG) Robustagno as innovation broker and now as facilitator. His specific role is to ensure that partners can work together in a way which will enable them to reach their goals. We spoke to him about his activities: