Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund

Date published: 10 February, 2023

The Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund has two aims.

Knowledge Transfer Component:

The first is to promote skills development and knowledge transfer in the primary agricultural sector.

This will be achieved through providing funding to organisations to deliver vocational training, coaching, workshops, courses and farm visits designed to develop skills and transfer knowledge.

Innovation Component:

The second aim is to deliver innovation on-the-ground improvements in agricultural competitiveness, resource efficiency, environmental performance and sustainability.

This will be achieved through meeting the running costs of operational groups seeking to implement innovative projects in these areas. Operational groups can be made up of different individuals or organisations within agriculture who are working collaboratively.

This helps form partnerships between farmers, crofters, land managers, NGOs, advisers and businesses working on the ground.

These operational groups are expected to generate new insights and innovative ideas, as well as mobilising existing knowledge into practical solutions.

If you have any queries or questions please contact the team who manage the scheme direct. Details can be found below in the Contact section.

Further information about operational groups and collaboration can be found on the Scottish Rural Network website.

Scottish Rural Network

KTIF - New Funding Window - February 2023

Applicants are welcome to submit a short inception note (one side of A4) to KTIF@gov.scot to get informal feedback on the proposal from Friday, 10 February 2023 (midnight).
Final applications, costings and communications plans should be submitted no later than Friday, 10 March 2023 (midnight). All of which should be emailed to KTIF@gov.scot.
The Project Assessment Committee (PAC) will meet to consider all final applications, which is provisionally planned, on Wednesday, 29 March 2023.
The KTIF secretariat will inform applicants the outcome of the PAC, and next steps, which is provisionally planned, by Friday, 14 April 2023.

Please note the latest guidance to be followed when applying:

Additional Requirements and Information for Applicants

Funding for projects will be capped at £200K (Knowledge Transfer 75% funded projects).
All projects must be completed by 31 March 2024.
Applications from both Knowledge Transfer projects (eligible for 75% funding under KTIF) and Innovation projects (eligible for 100% funding under KTIF) are being accepted.
All projects must complete and submit: an application form (KTIF 2 -2022), an application costing form (KTIF 5 – 2022) and submit a communications plan (including linkage of project dissemination with the Farm Advisory Service and the Scottish Rural Network).
Forms and scheme guidance can be found on this website.

Funding window focus

We will be accepting applications under any of the 5 KTIF objectives, but may prioritise climate change and biodiversity imperatives. The objectives are:

1. Enhancing competitiveness and enhancing viability in agriculture;

2. Restoring, preserving and enhancing biodiversity and ecosystems dependant on agriculture;

3. Improving water and/or soil management;

4. Pollution prevention and control;

5. Promoting resource efficiency and supporting a shift towards a low carbon and climate resilient economy in agriculture.

Knowledge Transfer projects can take the form of:

Specific training courses, workshops and coaching.
Demonstration activities that can take place on a farm, croft or forest or by virtual means.
Information action activities to disseminate information concerning agriculture, crofting and forestry. These actions can take the form of exhibitions, meetings, presentations or can be information in printed and electronic media.
Farm, croft and forest visits to learn about specific ways of doing things that may be of benefit to others.
Measures that aim to introduce innovative approaches and result in improvements to efficiency, effectiveness and/or environmental performance.

Innovation projects can take the form of:

Agricultural/forestry demonstration/benchmarking and similar types of projects (for example, Monitor Farms).
All innovation projects must form an Operational Group. Farmers, crofters and land managers are at the heart of this scheme.
Experimental and/or pilot projects that aim to introduce new and/or innovative approaches in agricultural/forestry practice.
Pilot a solution to deal with a particular issue.
Try something new to take advantage of a specific innovation opportunity.

Some examples of leading eligible bodies are:

An agricultural levy body;
An enterprise company; and
A non-profit organisation.

The remit for the Knowledge Transfer Innovation Fund (KTIF) Project Assessment Committee (PAC) is:

a) to consider and determine applications for assistance under KTIF, including the level of grant and any conditions to be imposed; and

b) to monitor operation of the Scheme and consider any adjustments needed to achieve its objectives more effectively.

Disclaimer
Full scheme guidance
Updates
Eligibility
Selection criteria
Applications
Claims
Payment
Inspections
Breaches and penalties
Appeals and complaints
Contact

*** We are currently working to update all forms and scheme guidance. Whilst the scheme is now fully funded by the Scottish Government, we continue to deliver under retained EU legislation. For further information please contact KTIF@gov.scot***

Before you apply for this scheme, please read the full scheme guidance. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us before completing your application.

Full scheme guidance

- 15 August, 2017

We've updated the PAC Approved Projects document.

Support is available to organisations that have an interest in the primary agricultural sector and wish to promote projects that support skills development, knowledge transfer, explore new ways of working and improve performance.

This includes:

public sector organisations
private sector organisations
constituted not-for-profit organisations
research institutions

Groups made up of individuals or organisations working in collaboration can also apply. These groups will form operational groups and could be made up of:

farmers
researchers
advisors
non-government organisations
private sector businesses involved in the agricultural sector

The lead party for the project should have a proven track record in delivering similar projects in agriculture.

Project proposals will be assessed on:

contribution towards meeting national and European Commission objectives and priorities
value for money
affordability
deliverability
level of commitment
how well the project benefits can be demonstrated and utilised by others

Applications can be submitted throughout the year and you can apply using the scheme’s dedicated application form.

More information on the applications process can be found in the full scheme guidance.

Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund application form: KTIF 2 - 2015

Applications need to be made by the project’s lead organisation or person and should include:

a project description
an explanation to how it meets national and European Commission priorities
project objectives, timescales, milestones and targets
an explanation of why funding is needed and what difference it will make to the project
project funding proposals, including level of funding sought, details of funding sources, and costs broken down by item
project management and delivery proposals, including details of how project partners will work together
evaluation and monitoring proposals
an explanation of how the results of the project will be used

A Scottish Government Project Assessment Committee will assess and score applications and make decisions on projects that will be supported.

The committee will meet four times per year. We aim to make funding decisions within six to eight weeks of receiving an application.

If your application is successful, we will send you a grant acceptance letter. You need to sign and return this before spending any funding.

Payments can then be claimed using the scheme claim form.

Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund Claim Form - coming early 2015

The claims process will vary depending on the project and the conditions under which funding is paid.

This will be detailed in your grant acceptance letter.

Claims for grant payments should be submitted on a quarterly basis.

The final grant payment will be paid after submission and approval of the final project report. Your claim forms need to be accompanied by relevant documents.

This will include:

properly receipted invoices, with amounts and dates of expenditure incurred
the main claimant’s bank statement showing the amount and date of payments made
detailed evidence of the costs being claimed

Claims will be paid within 30 days where documentation is properly completed and accompanied by appropriate evidence of expenditure.

If you receive funding from this scheme you may be inspected. You can find out more about how and why we carry out inspections in our dedicated section.

Inspections

If we discover that you have not followed the scheme guidelines, we will call this a breach. It’s important that we penalise breaches to make sure we are following European Commission law.

Further information why we need to penalise breaches can be found below.

Breaches and penalties

If you disagree with a decision we have made regarding your application or funding, you may ask for it to be reviewed.

Likewise, if you are unhappy with our service, or if you have a complaint about the scheme or its administration, you can make a formal complaint using our dedicated complaints procedure.

You can find out more about both the appeals and complaints processes in the full scheme guidance.

Full scheme guidance

If you have any questions about this scheme, please get in touch.

Head of Agricultural Development and Crofting Branch
The Scottish Government
Agriculture, Food and Rural Communities Directorate
D Spur
Saughton House
Broomhouse Drive
Edinburgh
EH11 3XD

Tel: 0300 244 6777