Networking in organising educational activities Norway, USA

There is a wide range of examples of how networking has been achieved by farmers, with and without the participation of government agencies and private advisers. Although not all dedicated to organic farms and farmers, these networks are descried as examples of how farmergenerated ideas have reached wide audiences in several places in the world. 

A four-year grant from the federal Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program allowed the University of Nebraska and collaborators to plan and implement training from 1993 to 1997 across the North Central Region of the USA. Each workshop was planned and topics chosen by an interdisciplinary team of extension specialists in close consultation with the local educators and non-profit farmer and research groups in states where the workshop would be held. An attempt to make the learning methods systemic for future workshops included these steps  

Results of the first year s workshops were published in the Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 

Organic production systems are complex out of necessity, since soil fertility and plant protection are provided by applying the principles of ecology and lessons from natural ecosystems. It is this complexity, in part, that makes the need for unique education and training opportunities so important for organic farmers. In addition, the lack of institutional support with information from universities and government agencies in most countries makes this a valuable area to explore and for which to seek appropriate educational options. 

Based on experience, the authors see that current education and training for organic 

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