The “Farmer and their Advisory Journey” is a workshop which helps reflect on how change happens on a farm and on how methods and tools can help motivate a farmer for climate action. The method enables advisors to step back from a purely technical perspective and consider psychological dimensions of change (e.g. the need to “celebrate” intermediate achievements). The method can also be used to make policy makers grasp the non-linearity of behavior change and the different enabling factors.
The “Farmer and their Advisory Journey” has proved valuable in diverse settings as a:
Its strength lies in showing that change is a messy, iterative, and emotional process. Rather than prescribing “what works,” the tool invites contextualized thinking. For many users, it also enabled recognition of rarely addressed dimensions of advisory work, such as trust-building, timing, and emotional support.
The workshop is designed for working in groups of about 5 people on a large flipchart with cards. With the first set of cards, the participants move and place the different stages a farmer goes through to reach a change of practice. They can add drawings, arrows, and new cards. The second set of cards depicts advisory activities which can support the farmer on its journey.
The workshop has been designed for the Train the Trainer program of the ClimateSmartAdvisors project, which aims at training advisors in leading a Community of Practice of advisors
Some challenges remain as the approach requires experienced facilitation and time constraints can limit depth of discussion.
Future developments could include:
The workshop has been replicated and adapted to different contexts and other projects for example at a session of the Carbon Farming Summit (Dublin, 2025); a training of advisors in the Organic Climate Net (France, 2025); a session in a Community of Practice of advisors in
Poland as well as being used in higher education to frame advisory work (Ireland, 2024).
