On March 3, 2026, a regional meeting in Klatovy brought together farmers, experts, and innovators to explore how digital tools, education, and collaboration can better support agricultural practice. Among the initiatives presented, LocalLinks.AI stood out as a practical example of how innovation can directly strengthen local food systems.

Presented by Pavel Vondráček from Úhlava, o.p.s., LocalLinks focuses on smart mapping and activation of short food supply chains. Its goal is to better connect local producers, processors, and consumers using data and digital tools, making regional cooperation more visible and effective.

The idea is simple: many connections already exist in rural areas, but they are often fragmented or invisible. By mapping these relationships and identifying new opportunities, LocalLinks helps farmers and local businesses collaborate more efficiently and keep value within the region.

The project is part of the wider European initiative PoliRuralPlus, which supports innovative approaches to rural development. This gives LocalLinks both a strong local foundation and access to international knowledge and experience.

At the same time, the event showed that LocalLinks is not developing in isolation. It is closely linked to broader innovation activities led by Plan4all within the Agri-Digital Growth Living Lab. These activities create space for testing new solutions directly with farmers and adapting them to real needs.

Other projects and tools presented during the meeting complemented this vision:

  • sensor-based systems such as SensLog and AgroNode for collecting field data
  • the Info4Agro platform providing climate and satellite data for decision-making
  • the JackDaw (Kavka) GeoAI assistant, helping farmers interpret complex data in a simple way
  • educational initiatives like eduAgrihub, developed with WirelessInfo and Mendel University in Brno, supporting new skills in precision agriculture

Together, these initiatives show that digital agriculture is not just about technology, but about making that technology usable and relevant in everyday practice.

The discussion with farmers confirmed that interest in innovation is strong, but only if solutions are practical, easy to use, and clearly beneficial. In this context, LocalLinks offers a promising approach by focusing not only on production, but on relationships within the food system.

The Klatovy meeting demonstrated that when projects like LocalLinks are combined with data tools, education, and collaboration platforms, they can form the foundation of a more resilient and connected regional agriculture.

Rather than a single solution, it is this combination of initiatives that is shaping the future of farming in the region.

👉 Want to dive deeper into the full context of the event (in Czech)?
Read the original article https://www.uhlava.cz