The ICAERUS consortium incorporates all actors involved in the agri-rural sector and combines multidisciplinary competences and resources from academia, industry and research communities in various fields of expertise.

It consists of 13 partners from eight (8) EU countries and has been designed to amplify a multi-actor approach, by linking partners representing academic and research institutes, industrial entities including drone manufacturers and service providers and NPOs. This synthesis that combines the R&I capacities of research entities with the exploitation competences of the drone industry and the dissemination and communication skills of NPOs, covers the broad range of practical and theoretical expertise required to achieve the project’s objectives. Hence, it adopts a well-structured organization structure based on the Development of a Simplified Consortium Agreement (DESCA) Project module, offering a reliable frame of reference for the ICAERUS project consortium.

The multi-actor approach is essential in order to bring all the major, value chain-related stakeholders together and engage them in the setup and implementation of practical approaches, aiming to effectively address the challenge of limited exploitation and uptake of drones as multi-purpose vehicles in the agri-rural sector.

The consortium is well-positioned to deliver the results promised in this proposal. Specialties in drone technology and research and agro-forestry sciences, are covered by corresponding partners, following the interdisciplinary approach. Furthermore, consortium partners ensure their internal gender equality issue in all aspects of research and innovation, something that is scaled-up in the consortium as a whole.

Finally, and very importantly, the consortium carries significant expertise in social sciences and humanities as well as open science practices in R&I.

More specifically, to materialise its concept, ICAERUS will bring together organisations from:

• 3 European research institutes and universities (AUA, WU, OU) with significant research capacity in the
  agri-rural sector and its digitisation, behavioural research, social sciences and humanities, distance learning and capacity building.
• 6 industry stakeholders and technology SMEs (GS, NSWR, ART, NMN, EI, AgFutura), highly
  experienced in smart farming solutions, forestry and drone applications in rural areas, to demonstrate expert knowledge in state-of-the-art industrial processes, drone solutions development, research and innovation.
• 3 NPOs (IDELE, AFL, HCPA) with wide agri-rural end-user networks (producers, producers’ associations,
  foresters, SMEs, public authorities, consumers), aiming to engage them in market research, as well as demonstration and evaluation activities.
• 1 organisation (RFF), with expertise in impact maximization, open call innovation stimulation, as well as business innovation and business modelling.