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Extension systems and change facilitation for agricultural and rural development

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Farming Systems Research into the 21st Century: The New Dynamic

Abstract

The field of extension is quite dynamic and new configurations and alternative extension systems and approaches have been emerging. This chapter explores the recent developments and debates critical questions such as: Is extension still relevant? What are the current trends and challenges in the field of agriculture and rural development and how are they affecting the structure, mission and delivery of extension services? How is extension being considered in the frame of the EU Common Agriculture Policy? We stress the growing involvement of multi-stakeholder networks of different sorts in extension work (with emphasis on private-profit or non-profit-organisations) as well as the adoption of participatory approaches. We also analyse the complex relationships between extension agents and rural actors. The major focus is on the changing roles of extension agents, underlining their current roles as learning-innovation-change facilitators and knowledge brokers. Examples drawn from proceedings of the European IFSA Symposia specifically address European cases, and illustrate the analysis.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The papers referred to in this section are not listed in the references and can be seen and downloaded from: www.ifsa-europe.org

  2. 2.

    Chambers of Agriculture are established in 14 European countries with about 15,000 employees providing extension and advisory services for more than five million farmers, as well as local authorities, applied research agencies and rural enterprises. They also manage numerous experimental stations, test areas and research laboratories for applied life science. See: www. landwirtschaftskammern.de or http://www.chambres-agriculture.fr/ and http://www.pklwk.at/

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

    Artur Cristóvão

  2. Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Alex Koutsouris

  3. German Chambers of Agriculture, and EU-Platform of Chambers of Agriculture, Brussels, Belgium

    Michael Kügler

Authors
  1. Artur Cristóvão
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  2. Alex Koutsouris
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  3. Michael Kügler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Artur Cristóvão .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Feistmantelstrasse 4, Vienna, 1180, Austria

    Ika Darnhofer

  2. Livelihood Systems, Agricultural and Rural, Shrewsbury Road 59, Church Stretton, SY6 6EX, Shropshire, United Kingdom

    David Gibbon

  3. , SAD, INRA, INRA - Clermont-Theix, Saint-Genes-Champanelle, 63122, France

    Benoît Dedieu

Appendix I. Learning workshops in IFSA symposia

Appendix I. Learning workshops in IFSA symposia

  • 2000 – Workshop 3: Learning and processes in research and extension

  • 2002 – Workshop 5: Learning processes in research and extension

  • 2004 – Workshop 4: Knowing and learning: Labour and skills at stake for a multidimensional agriculture

  • 2006 – Workshop 1: Learning as process

  • 2008 – Workshop 1: Learning, collective action and empowerment for rural reorganisation.

  • 2010 – Theme 1: Knowledge systems, learning and collective action

    • WS 1.1 – Innovation and change facilitation for rural development

    • WS 1.2 – Care farming: Challenges and innovations in agriculture and social care

    • WS 1.3 – Reaching the unreached

    • WS 1.4 – Design methods, system approaches and co-innovation

    • WS 1.5 – Transdisciplinarity as a framework for integrating science and stakeholders

    • WS 1.6 – Learning from and with local experts

    • WS 1.7 – Virtual realities and the future of distance learning in rural areas

    • WS 1.8 – Knowledge systems, innovations and social learning in organic farming

The full-text proceedings of these workshops can be accessed at: www.ifsa-europe.org.

Note: The first appearance of a WS devoted to ‘learning’ was the joint workshop at the 1998 Symposium ‘Learning processes in developed countries’ out of which the LEARN Group (2000) book titled “Cow up a tree: Learning and Knowing Processes for Change in Agriculture in Industrialised Countries” and the LEARNing project emerged (see: Hubert et al. 2012, this book). The first workshop specifically devoted to ‘Facilitation’ appeared in the 2010 Symposium (convenors: A. Cristóvão and A. Koutsouris).

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Cristóvão, A., Koutsouris, A., Kügler, M. (2012). Extension systems and change facilitation for agricultural and rural development. In: Darnhofer, I., Gibbon, D., Dedieu, B. (eds) Farming Systems Research into the 21st Century: The New Dynamic. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4503-2_10

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