As 2018 draws to a close, CCRI researchers have successfully published a trio of papers in the International Journal of Agricultural Extension. Julie Ingram, Hannah Chiswell and Jane Mills are lead authors on one of the papers, and co-authors on a further two. The papers have emerged from AgriDemo F2F work packages and were initially presented at the 13th European International Farm Systems Association (IFSA) conference. All three play key roles in AgriDemo F2F, which is specifically looking at demonstration farms in enhancing farmer-to-farmer (F2F) learning is funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 framework runs from 2017 until 2019.
The European IFSA (International Farming Systems Association) Symposia are biennial events organized in rotation by European universities and research institutes involved in Farming Systems Research and Extension. The first symposium was organised in Edinburgh in October 1993. The papers are part of an IFSA special issue which contains nine papers which have been selected as being of particular relevance to the Journal’s scope and audience.
In ‘Enabling learning in demonstration farms: a literature review‘, the article discusses and critiques the current literature concerning learning on demonstration farms. This was an important paper, as literature concerning the topic had not previously been collated in a systematic manner and presented collectively in one article. This was necessary as the objective of the AgriDemo F2f project is peer-to-peer learning on demonstration farms.
The two remaining articles, which Julie Ingram contributed to both and Hannah contributing to one, underpin the framework of the AgriDemo F2f project. The lead authors for these papers were from the Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Development at the Agricultural University of Athens and the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (EV ILVO), Belgium. These two organisations are part of the consortium who make up the AgriDemo F2f project.
Hannah Chiswell, Research Assistant said “It’s great to see work coming out of AgriDemo being published. It show cases all of the hard work that’s gone into the project deliverables to see it in print and also means it will hopefully help disseminate the findings of the H2020 project to a wider audience”.
Full references for the three articles and links to download are provided below:
Ingram, J., Chiswell, H., Mills, J., Debruyne, L., Cooreman, H., Koutsouris, A., Pappa, E., Marchand, F., (2018) Enabling learning in demonstration farms: a literature review, International Journal of Agricultural Extension, 29-42
Cooreman, H., Vandenabeele, J., Debruyne, L., Ingram, J., Chiswell, H., Koutsouris, A., Pappa, E., Marchand, F., (2018) A conceptual framework to investigate the role of peer learning processes at on-farm demonstrations in the light of sustainable agriculture, International Journal of Agricultural Extension, 91-103
Pappa, E., Koutsouris, A., Ingram, J., Debruyne, L., Cooreman, H., Marchand, F., (2018) Structural aspects of on-farm demonstrations: Key considerations in the planning and design process, International Journal of Agricultural Extension, 79-90