FASTool project has addressed continuous training needs of the farm advisors in the EU Farm Advisory System (FAS). The present Project aimed at developing a blended training program for professionalization of the agricultural advisors defined as “Specialist”. The program would be applied for continuous improvement of Farm Advisory Services throughout the EU, by capacity development of the human resources. For this purpose, FASTool project has primarily practiced upon Quality Assurance (QA) methodology, indicative descriptors and quality indicators of appropriate EQF level. Development of the “Specialist Agricultural Advisor” qualification framework and designing training program curricula for furthering target group’s profession has been realized in four stages, compatible with the quality assurance and improvement cycle, in the following order: 1) Planning, 2) Implementation, 3) Evaluation/Assessment, 4) Revision. Besides main deliverables, FASTool fulfillled several duties; creating network among partners, assessing current situation, bridging the gap between the sector demanding service and VET systems, more internationalization and designing transnational training concepts.
The purpose of the project did not change significantly during project execution. The aim of the project is to create an up-to-date and mixed training program that farm advisors need. Farm advisors are main responsible for farmer training in Turkey and in the EU as a mentor as well. Inherently, advisory VET, ie Training of Trainers, requires interdisciplinary study environment and involvement of several academic disciplines, such as agriculture, education, psychology, sociology and communication. However, current advisors are mostly graduates of faculties related with only agricultural sciences. Their limited academic background on the other relevant disciplines, rather than agriculture, complicates conducting advisory service. The current situation creates “skill mismatch” between the nature of farm advisory services and current qualification of advisors. A blended training program combining these disciplines in the EU perspective forms a structured learning/training pathway for furthering careers. An advisor should be equipped with effective communication skills and extension knowledge.