ATTRACTISS Train the Trainer workshop
ATTRACTISS Train the Trainer (TTT) workshops are finally live! After over a year of planning, in October 2024, our Knowledge Exchange Manager, Ana Allamand, in partnership with CRAO’s innovation expert Marie Boitelet, finally facilitated the first ATTRACTISS TTT workshop. This two day, in-person training was developed by the ATTRACTISS team to empower and upskill innovation support services (ISS) practitioners with the knowledge, tools and networks needed to effectively support farmers innovating across Europe. The event was hosted by the Institute of Agricultural Economics IN Hungary (AKI).
Working together for two days, participants from Hungary, Germany, Poland, Spain, Belgium, France, Austria and Italy explored frameworks, methodologies, skills, tools and ideas to co-create and facilitate spaces for farmers developing innovation on the ground across Europe. During the workshop participants and facilitators moved from being a group of like-minded individuals into an emerging community of like-minded actors who will support each other in the implementation and dissemination of these practices in agricultural environments across Europe.
Train the trainer session content
The in-person sessions were preceded by two webinars where participants met each other and started exploring key topics. It was also a perfect opportunity to better understand and adjust the training to the participants’ needs, interests and learning styles. After these webinars, participants were ready to meet and get started in Budapest!
Day one of TTT focused on exploring the Interactive Innovation Process using the Spiral of Initiatives and other tools to understand what makes co-creation uniquely suited to the agricultural challenges ahead.
The group also explored how to identify and map ideas at the very start of a project, finishing by discussing the importance of networks and how to map them effectively to serve the innovative process, using the Network Analysis tool.
The second day was all about exploring what is needed to facilitate a successful process: how to communicate effectively, where to find useful tools and how to select the best for your purposes, what the role of the facilitator is and how to bring people together effectively.
By the end of these two days the group identified what they had learned so far and agreed on next steps, focusing on sharing the knowledge, tools and skills they had just learned through customised trainings delivered by them in their own regions.
Upcoming activities: it doesn’t end here!
There is still work to be done after these fantastic days in Budapest.
One key follow-up activity is that participants will organise workshops in their own regions to share what they have learned with advisors and other innovation support partners. By doing this, we hope ISSs will be better prepared and will know where to find and how to use some of these tools to support farmers looking to innovate across Europe.
The second follow up process is supporting each other as participants return to their daily activities and start testing these skills, ideas and tools in real life, as well as any challenges they could face when sharing with other participants in their regions! To do so, the TTT organisers will facilitate webinars where participants can come together and share how they are doing so far; explore what is working and what could be improved when implementing these new skills and tools on the ground; and support each other in this process, sharing what has worked for them and providing advice to each other.
Interested in learning more about these TTTs or even participating?
The Budapest TTT is only the first of three TTTs delivered by the ATTRACTISS team. Other opportunities will be available for those interested in participating in 2025! The next one will take place in April 2025 in Vienna! Spaces are limited, so if you’d like to know more, please contact Ana as soon as possible.
And if you'd like to learn more without participating in our TTTs, don’t worry, there are other options! You can join our growing community and explore tools, real life examples and join our platform (in development) at akisconnect.eu. We would also be delighted for you to join our webinars and explore whether our in-person events (cross visits, conferences, masterclasses) are right for you; you can also find them at akisconnect.eu.
Everyone is invited and we hope you will join us in building this energetic and practical community of interactive innovation supporters for agriculture. We hope to see you there!
ATTRACTISS is a 6-year Horizon Europe funded project, which aims to empower innovation support services as a pathway for a more sustainable agriculture & forestry sector.