Advisory services and transformation, plurality and disruption of agriculture and food systems: towards a new research agenda for agricultural education and extension studies

The latest comprehensive research agenda in the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension was published in 2012 (Faure, Desjeux, and Gasselin 2012), and since then there have been quite some developments in terms of biophysical, ecological, climatological, social, political and economic trends that impact farming and the transformation of agriculture and food systems at large as well as new potentially disruptive technologies. These may also have an impact on education and advisory systems. Thus, when I was asked to provide the opening keynote address at the 24th European Seminar on Extension and Education (ESEE 2019) held at Acireale, Italy, this seemed a pertinent topic to reflect on and offer some ideas on what would be the questions that should form part of a new research agenda for agricultural education and extension studies. This editorial elaborates on that presentation, with the purpose of sharing the reflections presented as well as the suggested questions for future research. The proposed research agenda focuses on advisory services rather than formal agricultural education (at technical, vocational and university levels), but obviously there are links between the two.