Get reliable rangeland science

Building a community of practice around the network of rural living labs of the Grassland Management project in Uruguay
Author
Areosa Aldama, P
Pereira Machin, M
de Hegedus, P
Publisher
XII International Rangeland Congress
Publication Year
2025
Body

Since 2021, the Grassland Management project has been monitoring 30 livestock farms (Living Rural Laboratories) grazing natural pastures. The objective of the project is to contribute to the better management of natural pastures, through the use of good pasture management practices, with the aim of developing sustainable livestock systems. After three years, 130 workshops have been held with the participation of laboratories, the accompanying group of neighbouring producers, the technicians responsible for monitoring and the extension agency. These meetings take place in autumn and spring, are attended by 15 producers (on average per laboratory), field visits are carried out and evaluations are made. Currently, a total of 1800 people are participating in project activities. From August 2022, on the occasion of the first meeting of the Laboratory Network, the Community of Practice on natural grassland management started to operate. According to the theory of Community of practice, the participants of the Community share a common concern, a set of problems, or an interest in a topic, and are motivated to fulfill both individual and group goals. Three levels of involvement are identified: 1) the central core (30 producer families and technical team; 80 people), 2) the accompanying core (15 neighbours per Lab. + 450 people) and 3) the peripheral core-a heterogeneous group composed of multiple actors, research and private technicians (+ 300 people). Based on the evaluation conducted within the framework of the project, through a survey of participants, it can be concluded that the learning of new concepts and ideas is a process that 90% of the participants have shown, the remaining 10% have incorporated new approaches to what they already knew. Community building i s an emerging feature of the project, which has been enhanced by the development of information technologies. It is envisioned as an information scaling strategy and a space for sharing the experiences of livestock producers. When the project ends, it will face the challenge of sustaining itself and ensuring its sustainability.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Additional Information
This paper is part of the larger XII International Rangelands Congress Proceedings. Page Numbers: 331-334. Theme: Theme 2 / Poster presentations – Theme 2
ISSN
978-0-646-72121-7
Conference Name
International Rangeland Congress
Collection
International Rangelands Congress
Keywords
Community of Practice
Rangeland Management
Workshops
Living Labs
Learning