Investigations

{{attach file="enquete.jpg" desc="image enquete.jpg (58.7kB)" size="original" class="left whiteborder"}Agroecological skills are complex and non-stabilised. They touch upon sensitive, experience based, formal, social and cultural dimensions. The identification and definition of such skills is not easy and requires the use of special observation and analytical procedures, that are adapted to the ethnographical context.

These skills are developed in a complex manner by their users who call upon a variety of sources and cognitive development methods: observation, problematisation, reproduction, adaptation, application, experimentation...

It is therefore a multi-factor process of bringing together very varied and variable elements towards deploying a practice which is â??efficient' in a given situation and context. The development of this â??intelligence of the situation' does not correspond to a defined and/or definable spatial or temporal environment.

Whether diachronic or synchronic, close or distant, it calls upon physical and/or social and/or cultural objects which intimately belong to each of the actors.

These latter have a more or less developed conscience which is formalised or formalisable, explicit or which can be expressedâ?¦ The skill is part of their being and to relate or describe such would require the individual to take an analytical stance requiring, in most cases, accompaniment in order to be able to detail and bring the author's implicit reasoning to an active level of conscience.

Moreover, the boundaries and contours of these skills are not fixed and can be crossed very easily. This characteristic induces a form of plasticity and adaptability and therefore â??robustness (1) in the act' with regards to the said skills in that when they are expressed, they are duly valid (or validated, i.e. considered as such by the actor him/herself).

The complexity of the conjunction of the elements at the origin of a skill which is valid for one individual, in a given situation, at a given place, at a given time and for a given activityâ?¦ represents a major obstacle in the process of construction of a form of theorisation, educational process or institutionalisation. It would appear indeed unrealistic, even peremptory, to think that one can render the practice or strategy of a person transposable, given that the context elements are so complex, on so many different levels and different dimensions and are often related to a single individual.


It is essential to search for what can be transposable to another level. These are the reasons and objectives shared in the two previous sections (â??Formalising the perception of the concept of agroecology' and â??Preparing to receive agroecological knowledge').

The documents present in this section describe the techniques for surveys and investigation which share the characteristic of being highly focused on quality and which are comprehensive and formalised.

These techniques will lead you to question not only the persons or situations but also, and above all, the interactions between them. The conditions of implementation of these techniques imply a high level of human investment (proximity, trust, availability) which represents a prior condition for successful exchanges.

The use of any of the said techniques depends on the context and the objectives sought.
It is generally very useful and informative to cross check data and information obtained by using different approaches in order to refine the information collection and consequently make analysis all the more pertinent.

(1) Robustness is considered here as the stability of the performance of a system. In other words, rather than opposing scientific knowledge (which carry a form of robustness) with agroecological skills (which are robust in a different manner), we consider that the procedures which have resulted in the adoption of practices by farmers are profoundly based on an experimental approach. These processes are developed through a form of personal, local, localised, contextualisedâ?¦ epistemology. Consequently, we do not recognise the â??robustness' quality as a discriminating value which would highlight the fundamental differences between these different viewpoints of skill and knowledge. In other words, the question arises: "robust knowledge?! For whom ? From what point of view ?...


Resources

Definition, economic interests and example of products labelling of territory in France

















Furthering your discovery of training itinerary :
@ How approaching a controversial topic as agroecology with a group of learmers or how Formalising the perception of the concept of agroecology

@ How changing its own position and its view for spotting, observing and collecting agroecological knowledge or how Preparing yourself to receive agroecological knowledge

@ Pedagogical Approaches and positions for Promoting integration of agroecological knowledge