1. Public Awareness Programme, assumptions, activities, conclusions
19th September 2002
Ograniczanie zaniczyszczeń pochodzenia rolniczego - wzorcowa praktyka, Przysiek

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).
Ograniczanie zaniczyszczeń pochodzenia rolniczego - wzorcowa praktyka, Przysiek

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

7. Number of hits on the website

8. Ecological awareness yes 29,4% (28,1%) no 63,1% (67,6%) hard to say
Does agriculture in Poland lead to any significant environmental hazards? (baseline survey results are quoted in brackets)
yes
29,4% (28,1%) no
63,1% (67,6%)
hard to say
7,5% (4,3%)
Can organic fertilisers (slurry, liquid manure, manure) pollute the environment? (base line survey results are quoted in brackets)
yes
23,1% (15,5%) no
67,0% (77,8%)
it depends
6,8% (2,9%)
hard to say
3,2% (3,7%)

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