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Training rural farmers in the use of mobile applications for agricultural activities
Start date: Sep 1, 2015, End date: Aug 31, 2018 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The acquisition of basic digital skills has been identified as one of the principal adults´ training needs to acquire to match the requirements of today´s changing labour markets. This is important particularly in rural areas where the spread of ICT has been lower than in urban areas, therefore rural citizens find more difficulties in order to access ICT training. There are many mobile applications offering great potential to facilitate agricultural, stockbreeding and forestry activities that traditionally require great effort. Applications to locate livestock or monitor pesticide applications on large areas through GPS positioning are just some examples. However, the lack of specialised training of rural population remains as the main factor that hinders the use of ICT in agricultural activities. In this context, Smart Rural aims to create a learning programme on the use of ICT mobile applications for adult farmers in rural areas in order to promote their access to technological innovations that will facilitate their working conditions and social inclusion as ICT represent a way to communicate with the rest of the world and being informed. Smart Rural project is structured in the creation of three Intellectual Outputs covering analysis, training and dissemination, in particular: O1- Study of identified barriers and needs of farmers from rural areas to use mobile applications. Personal interviews and focus groups with farmers will be developed. Once the ICT training needs of farmers have been identified focus groups with relevant stakeholders of the agricultural sector will be conducted to complete and corroborate the previously detected training needs. An individual analysis will be subsequently developed in each partner country to report on the conclusions reached to subsequently develop a transnational study compiling common patterns and conclusions at European level. O2 – Mobile applications action programme for farmers in rural areas. The action programme will represent the main intellectual output of Smart Rural being transferable at European level and including the contents and structure of the training modules devoted to train rural farmers in ICT mobile technologies. The programme will be put into practice in three partner organisations, benefiting between 108 and 135 rural farmers. Lastly, a focus group with the trainers will be conducted to correct possible errors and further improvement. The training programme resulted will be translated into several languages, therefore, promoting its transferability at European level. The different character of the selected organisations and correspondent countries strengthen the transferable aim of this project O3 -Dissemination plan A comprehensive dissemination plan to increase Smart Rural visibility, spread its objectives and results and facilitate networking activities across Europe will be developed. It envisages an on-line strategy with a dedicated website, project image, networking activity and an extensive media coverage. In addition, each partner will organise a multiplier event. Smart Rural will achieve the following results during the project lifetime: • A mobile applications Action programme for rural farmers. • A Transnational study of the ICT and mobile applications needs of farmers from rural areas to facilitate their daily activities. • Four regional analysis on target groups’ needs. • At least 100 interviews with the target group and 8 focus groups with farmers. • Four regional assessment teams (at least 32 members) and 8 focus groups with these teams. • Four multiplier events. • 3 training courses for farmers (at least 108 beneficiaries) and a workshop for trainers. • An effective dissemination strategy, encompassing: - A network of complementary projects, initiatives and /or partners. - One project website and social network profiles. - Full media coverage through the release of press notes and the organisation of press conferences. - Project logo and brochure translated in all partner languages. Smart Rural partnership has been built on the basis of three pillars: technical capacity, communication skills and networking and geographical balance, gathering experienced organisations in in adult learning, ICT training, rural development and as well as wide experience in management of transnational cooperation projects at European Level. The project consortium is formed by public and private institutions from four European countries (France, Austria, Ireland and Spain). In summary, Smart Rural seeks to increase the ICT knowledge of farmers in rural areas, promoting the use of mobile applications for agricultural purposes to raise awareness among rural citizens of the advantages new technologies involve for their daily tasks and further facilitate their information and communication to promote their social integration through lifelong learning.

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