The development of activities takes place increasingly through a project approach, both for extension services and for farming families. Whether for an individual project or for participation in collective initiatives, adequate project management, clearly defined objectives, a clear business plan, information and communication concepts are necessary to guarantee achieving the expected results and accessing private or public funding.

Key element

Good project design, planning, support, implementation and conclusion are basic elements of the activity for project managers, coaches and multipliers in rural areas. For the generation of knowledge, the exchange of experiences and decision-making, the use of facilitation techniques participatory methods are key elements for achieving good results.

Suitable tools

AGRIDEA develops and makes available methods and tools suitable for project man-agement and facilitation. These methods and tools are offered and transmitted to people involved in the projects and process supporting during courses and advanced training sessions and also offered to partners and customers as direct services in supporting projects.

Method

In certain fields of activity of AGRIDEA such as organisational development, the development of teams, monitoring and evaluation, other working methods and instru-ments specifically adapted to the different situations are used: RDP (Regional Development Projects), PLA (Participatory Learning and Action), Conference of the Future, and Outcome Mapping among others. Methods for the initiation and running of platforms and exchange networks complete the offer.

Participation

AGRIDEA favours participatory approaches centred on the actors. The involvement of all the actors concerned from the start of the process ensures simultaneous progression for all and avoids anyone being out of step. These approaches often require more time in the first phase, however, the prevention of risks of blockages during the course of the project and the rapid and easy assimilation of the results makes it possible to compensate for this disadvantage.