More than just markets: learning and knowledge co-creation in short food supply chains—A scoping review

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Abstract
Short food supply chains (SFSCs) aim to reconfigure producer–consumer relationships by reducing intermediaries and enabling more direct, localized interactions, thereby contributing to the transformation of food systems. Beyond economic and social benefits, SFSCs also serve as spaces for civic learning, knowledge exchange, and capacity-building. While the advantages of SFSCs are well-documented, the specific mechanisms through which learning occurs, and the role of governance in enabling these processes, remain underexplored. The aim of this study is to explore the knowledge exchange and learning dynamics in SFSCs, with particular focus on how organizational forms and governance structures shape learning outcomes. Using a scoping review, it synthesizes a fragmented body of literature and identifies learning modes as an analytical lens for understanding how learning processes unfold in SFSC contexts. SFSCs function as diverse learning environments, fostering both informal and structured knowledge creation. Learning emerges through personal interaction, hands-on participation, peer exchange, and collaborative problem-solving, all shaped by embeddedness in local rural contexts. These processes are shaped by interaction intensity and organizational design, including member participation, institutional support, and local embeddedness. By linking learning outcomes to enabling structures, the study advances understanding of how governance shapes learning processes in SFSCs and contributes a conceptual lens explaining how learning emerges at the intersection of experiential engagement, social interaction, and organizational arrangements.

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