Public Awareness Programme, assumptions, activities, conclusions

1. Public Awareness Programme, assumptions, activities, conclusions 19th September 2002

2. Objectives of the Public Awareness Programme • 1.To make the pilot group sensitive to the project aims as well as ensure farmers’ participation in the project. • 2. To promote better understanding and support to environmentally friendly farming practices amongst farmers and other social groups in Poland. • 3. To improve the understanding of cross-links between agriculture and environment amongst the Polish public opinion (while paying special attention to the young).

3. Activities in the pilot project area • Regular mail survey • “Good practice” newsletter

4. Activities out of the pilot project area • In the media (without paid articles: 9 press information releases, 56 articles; 6 radio broadcasts) • Competition for the students of secondary agricultural schools (invitations to 300 schools; 58 competition entries) • Materials (a poster – calendar; leaflets about CDs, a film, a brochure)

5. Activities out of the pilot project area - cont. • Meetings with local leaders, farmers, NGOs, village leaders: 63 in all (about 1800 participants)

6. Website www.ostw.pl

7. Number of hits on the website

8. Ecological awareness Does agriculture in Poland lead to any significant environmental hazards? (baseline survey results are quoted in brackets) Can organic fertilisers (slurry, liquid manure, manure) pollute the environment? (base line survey results are quoted in brackets)

9. Ecological awareness Baseline level of ecological awareness (October 2001): [28,1 + (15,5 +2,9) ]/2 = 23,25 Ecological awareness – surveyed again in April 2002 : [29,4+(23,1+6,8)]/2 = 29,65

10. Failures • Too much time needed to develop an indicator to measure ecological awareness level, operational importance of that measure • List of discussion points

11. Project sustainability • Key importance of „fair rules”, the information dissemination on the rules and reporting on the work progress („transparency”) – • Role of information dissemination to better motivate farmers - information invokes trust and substitutes it • Adapting some activities

12. Summary and recommendations Supplementary financing Readiness to take up measures to protect the environment Ecological awareness Knowledge on regulatory framework

13. Summary and recommendations • Dual approach of the media (image of the countryside) - personal contact • Materials - style (must not instruct in a patronising way - leaflets for farmers’ wives) • Arguments to be put foreword: example - not rational persuasion

14. Summary and recommendations Role of information dissemination: • Care to keep “fair rules” • Assistance in taking rational decisions

15. Summary and recommendations Ecological awareness and operating knowledge knowledge measurement as an element of extension planning

16. Encuragement and incentives Readiness to take up environmental measures

17. Tasks • Development and implementation of a research programme • Identification of target groups and elaboration of campaign messages • Development of Programme implementation Plan • Development of communication skills and capacities / training activities • Programme implementation • Programme assessment