Development history

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What is CECRA?

CECRA is a modular training program on methodological basics in advisory work, open for rural advisors. The program concludes with a certificate. A rural advisor applies for the CECRA certificate at his/her local CECRA certification body.

The “Certificate for European Consultants in Rural Areas” (CECRA) is the first European competence development program with an international certificate meeting the rising demand for advisor method training. The networks IALB and EUFRAS (and the organizations represented in the networks) are the providers of the CECRA Certification. Find detail in www.cecra.net

EUFRAS member organizations recognized the importance of methodological and communicative skills for their rural consultants and agreed to take over the CECRA-System from IALB and to cooperate in developing this cross-sectional competence.

EUFRAS started first CECRA Train-the-Trainer Program

From 16 to 20 January 2017, 13 participants from Croatia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain met in Baden-Württemberg to train CECRA-Trainer skills in an actively lived European cooperation. A waiting list for a potential follow up TTT starting in 2018 has been opened.

The one-year TTT Qualification Program started with its first week of training in January 2017. Two more training weeks follow in May 2017 and January 2018. Between these face-to-face training blocks, the participants work on assignments in self-organized learning groups.

Well-qualified advisory method trainers are an important prerequisite to the implementation of CECRA training for rural consultants in further European regions. The participants having passed this qualification process are going to be able to carry out the two compulsory CECRA modules and several chosen elective modules in their own countries.

“Since attending the first week of the CECRA TTT program I am already using the training methods in my daily work. The European interactions from the course has given me a much wider and richer appreciation of the role of the advisor and the importance of the profession being recognised and certified to a European standard. Attending the TTT program has convinced me of the importance of the softer skills in knowledge transfer and excellent advisory work. Technical skills are not enough today and it is a good advisor who can identify areas within their own skill set which they can improve on.” Valerie Farrell, Participant from Teagasc (Ireland).

Overview over the CECRA TTT-Program 2017/18

Participants of the CECRA TTT-Program 2017/18 working in small groups

What competences does a good trainer need? A lot of divers skills! A trainer is a magician, performing magic with his methods. Pablo Asensio and Jochen Currle guided the first of three seminar weeks of the TTT.

The basis for the successful realization of the first CECRA TTT-Program is an extraordinary cooperation between many agrarian advisory sevices all over Europe:

The advisory services from Croatia, Serbia, Ireland, Latvia and Slovenia and the Universities from Santiago de Compostela and Athens delegated some of their best staff to the qualification program. In some cases, participants invested their holidays and private money.

The CECRA-TTT 2017/18 Group with participants from eight different European countries

EUFRAS is kindly supported by the Baden-Württemberg state institute LEL (Landesanstalt für Entwicklung der Landwirtschaft und der ländlichen Räume) in the preparation and the organization of the TTT-Program. The IALB CECRA-Partners LEL, University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy Vienna, AGRIDEA (CH) and the Staatliche Führungsakademie Landshut together with the CECRA Module Providers entra and Doppelspitzencoaching were involved in the preparation and provided the five experienced IALB CECRA trainers leading the CECRA TTT Program 2017/18. The Agricultural Ministry of Bavaria contributes and delegates free of charge Pablo Asensio to the TTT-Trainer team.

With all these remarkable common efforts and the commitment of the highly motivated participants to the CECRA-TTT Program, all partners together contribute to the aim of establishing CECRA as an European methodological standard in rural counseling.

Communication skills and advisor methods are trained in practical communication-skills-training. For this specific format of adult learning, qualified and experienced trainers are needed. With the growing European integration, there is a desire to have consultancy standards at European level. The CECRA TTT Program is an answer to the growing demand for CECRA training and an important step to create the conditions for the CECRA certification of consultants in several further regions in Europe.

We have opened a waiting list for a second CECRA TTT. If you are interested in participating in a follow up of the CECRA TTT-Program starting in 2018, please send an Email expressing your interest to cecra.eufras@llkc.lv.