Project overview:

Title: Agri-environmental farm diagnostic tool ’Dialecte’ in vocational training
Project Number: 2012-1-HU1-LEO05-05850
EU Lifelong Learning Programme, Leonardo da Vinci Transfer of Innovation project
Project duration: 24 months: 01.12.2012 – 30.11.2014.

The project contributed to developing the skills and competencies of Vocational Education Training (VET) teachers & advisors in the field of farm level environmental audits; to strengthen the link between VET professionals & working life (advisors, farmers, agri-environmental scheme operators) via
setting up training background & a network of Agridiag/Dialecte trainers, advisors.

Project Partners:

  • Szent István University (HU) - coordinator: Dr. Katalin Balázs; 
  • Nat. Agric. Advisory, Educational and Rural Development Inst. (HU),
  • Dr. Entz Vocational School (HU),
  • Solagro (FR),
  • Supagro Florac (FR),
  • Institut Superior Técnico (PT),
  • Terraprima (PT).

Project results:

  • Vocational training course on Dialecte for innovative professionals.
  • Dialecte manual & on-line tool adopted to HU & PT conditions.
  • Collection of Dialecte related pedagogic methods adapted for HU & PT vocational teachers.
  • National Contact Points deep trained in Dialecte, advisory trainers trained, vocational school teachers trained.

 

Project summary:

Faced with society's increasing expectations, the European Common Agricultural Policy’s review considers environmental management to be an ever more critical criterion in the allocation of farm subsidies (focus shift from production subsidies to payments for supplying public goods).
There is an increasing demand (both by policy officials & farmers) to assess the ecological & environmental performance of farms. The public money spent on provision of environmental services require justification. It is a central interest for the farmers to be able to assess the nature/degree of environmental effects of their activities. Current agricultural vocational training can prepare advisors & prospective farmers for these challenges to only a very limited extent.
French experiences show that vocational training in particular plays a fundamental role in supporting the dissemination & implementation of approaches related to agri-environmental (AE) performance assessments of farms.
Solagro together with other institutions have developed a complementary set of on-line tools for diagnosis & decision support (Dialecte) that enable the assessment of the state of the environmental service provision of farms (incl. agro-ecological infrastructure, incl. biodiversity & effects of farming on environment.
The aim was to integrate & adopt these tools & related course material into a teaching pack & transfer it into vocational training module to be tested in HU & PT.
The target group of the transfer are innovative professionals incl. vocational teachers, trainers, advisors, trainers/practitioners from agricultural chambers/farming organisations, AE scheme operators.
The consortium consists of research & training institutes who can act as mediators between policy & practice, public authority supervising national agric. advisory services & agricultural vocational schools, farming advisory service, agric. secondary voc. schools.

Outcomes: Real project products & further major achievements:

[R3] On-line tool adapted to HU & PT conditions,
[R4] HU & PT training curricula
[R5] HU & PT training course for innovative professionals,
[R6] [R7] HU & PT Agridiag (AD) manuals,
- Pedagogic methods for vocational teachers,
- National Contact Points trained in Dialecte, advisory professionals & voc. school teachers trained,
- HU Network of Agridiag Experts.

Impact
The project brought methodological novelty & practice to professional advisory & training in the field of sustainable AE management, hence contributed to the better understanding of locally adapted farming for professional trainers, advisors & agricultural vocational school teachers. Improved AE awareness of farmers & decision making based on own farm assessment or assisted by advisor. Environment & farming interrelations are better understood by vocational school teachers who are triggered to use Dialecte for school farms & teaching.

Products
R1 - Action plan (AP) (Project implementation tool)
R2 - Professional visits (project implementation tool)
R3 - Hungarian version and up-to-date Portuguese version of Dialecte tool published on-line (real project product)
R4 Accreditable Agridiag HU & PT training curricula (real project product)
R5 - Agridiag HU & PT training packs (real project product)
R6 - Concise Agridiag manual in HU (real project product)
R7 - Concise Agridiag manual in PT (real project product)
R8 - Publicity of the pilot courses (project implementation tool)
R9 - Reports on the pilot courses (valorization tool)
R10 - Evaluation sheets of pilot trainings (quality assurance tool)
R11 - Regularly updated website (communication and dissemination tool)
R12 - Intranet domain (internal communication tool)
R13 - Roll-up posters (disssemination tool)
R14 - Leaflet about the project (disssemination tool)
R15 - Project e-newsletter (disssemination tool)
R16 - Press releases, articles, interviews (disssemination tool)
R17 - Summaries of team member evaluation: STME (quality assurance tool)
R18 - Expert assessment of the concise Dialecte manuals (quality assurance tool)
R19 - International meeting evaluation sheets: IMES (quality assurance tool for project management)