Strengthening soft skills in farm advisory services

What role do soft skills play in effective farm advisory services?

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On 29 January 2025, the OrganicAdviceNetwork project, in collaboration with our sister projects STRATUS and AdvisoryNetPest, organised a joint workshop on soft skills for farm advisors. The session was divided into two parts: the first was a hybrid session, where online participants from OrganicAdviceNetwork and AdvisoryNetPest joined participants of the in-person soft skills training organised by ILVO in Brussels as part of STRATUS project activities. The second part was a fully online session, focusing on interactive discussions and exercises.

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To ensure dynamic interaction between participants, the workshop included interactive activities using tools such as Menti and Klaxoon. This collaboration gave advisors from across Europe the opportunity to connect and strengthen their advisory networks while enhancing their learning experience. The session emphasised key soft skills, such as active listening, trust-building, and facilitation techniques, allessential for effective farm advisory services. It also provided a valuable opportunity for cross-project learning, highlighting the critical role of communication and interpersonal skills in advisory work.

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The key insights from the workshop will inform future training activities such as the Learning Paths, including a planned joint workshop on holistic, agroecological approaches, set for early 2026.

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A short report of the workshop is available. Stay tuned formore updates on upcoming capacity-building opportunities!

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