Social learning processes with farmers to encourage a sustainable production and competitiveness within the social and market environment (PHDLAURE)

How can farmers’ learning processes be enhanced as a way of supporting them to adopt more sustainable farming practices? New skills and knowledge are required for transitioning to more sustainable practices. Participation in organised learning trajectories can stimulate farmers’ learning processes. Although several elements of these trajectories (e.g. actors, context, trajectory and tools) can influence the learning process, currently little is known about the role of each of these elements. The overall goal of the project is to gain insight into the organisation of learning trajectories for farmers, ultimately resulting in knowledge creation and adoption of more sustainable farming practices.

We analyse several cases of organised learning trajectories. These cases differ in terms of initiators, actors involved, tools used, and maturity. Data are obtained by using qualitative research methods where the researcher participates in the case. Data analyses highlight the success factors and barriers in the different cases. We synthesise our observations into cross-case insights, resulting in guidelines that outline the ingredients necessary for a successful learning trajectory.

Several recent initiatives have been set up to encourage farmers to adopt more sustainable farming practices. ILVO has received a number of questions about these initiatives; there is clearly more to be learned. This research expands our knowledge of this field. This fundamental knowledge will then be embedded in service provisions and future (European) research projects. More specifically, we explore the needs of the sector to determine how the acquired knowledge can be valorised in a tool and/or a form of service provision for initiators of social learning processes.