Caoimhe Duggan

Project Title: Developing a model to evaluate the success of Signpost Demonstration Events and how they impact farmer behaviour towards climate action.

Project overview: The project aims to identify what stage of the awareness-knowledge-skills-attitude pathway towards on-farm climate change the farmer is at while also highlighting the intermediate outcomes from Signpost Demonstrations events. This pathway is based on Bennetts Hierarchy, and is the basis for all advisory and knowledge transfer programmes and the Signpost Demonstration events can act as triggers for them to move forward on the pathway to change. The data collection methods are sequential and based on 10 different events with one post-event questionnaire, a follow-up semi-structured interview and a workshop discussion. This project will allow the development of a protocol for capturing data from attendees immediately post-event and also 6 months later to capture a more comprehensive insight into the effect of Teagasc Signpost Programme events. In turn, the workshop will allow deeper analysis into the results of both the questionnaire and interviews, and discuss what might need reconsideration and adjustment.

Supervisors: Dr. Siobhán Kavanagh & Dr. Kevin Heanue (Teagasc) Prof. Jim Kinsella (UCD)

Location: Kilkenny