AGRYA - Agricultural and Rural Youth Association, Hungary started a communications project – with the support of the European Union, Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development – entitled “Communicating the Tools of the Common Agricultural Policy by the Examples of Young Farmers”.
The project aimed at getting to know Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in a theoretical and practical way encapsulated a series of events with more components. In the framework of it, a workshop was organised for urban youth, which was complemented by three study trips to different regions of Hungary and one to Austria. A workshop connected with a farm visit for journalists interested in CAP, and a “Farmer Portrait” series serving CAP communication from a practical point of view was also arranged, where eight farmers introduced themselves in one report movie each. For young farmers, we organised a conference – helping them with timely information and a workshop ensuring the less formal exchange of experience. Last but not least, two programmes were realised as parts of the project with great success, Rural Adventures Programme, and TELLUS Educational Programme with the inclusion of four schools. Because a primary aim of our campaign was to personify CAP through faces, people and lives for the broadest circle of urban youth – providing them the opportunity to gain personal and direct experiences in the framework of the project. We managed to do so in the case of the youngest age group thanks to TELLUS Educational Programme. The goal of the programme is to raise the awareness of children at the most acceptant age, children going to primary school to their environment, to the countryside. All this is done by ordinary and specialized methods of education as well as young farmers, who make the theoretical learning material acceptable and a positive experience. The other significant target group of the campaign were young adults, a part of whom are open to the actualities of agriculture. But their knowledge is not based on direct experiences. Therefore, our aim was to present CAP to them through direct experiences, as a living policy that covers many aspect of our lives, but gives an opportunity for producers to fulfil their economical and societal role. In order to achieve this goal, it is of utmost importance to approach youth with interactive communication based on personal experiences. A tool for this was Rural Adventures Programme, during which 30 urban young adults could join the everyday tasks of a farm directed by a young farmer. Their colourful, exciting experiences were shared at www.videk-kaland.hu and www.rural-adventures.eu with each other and anyone interested.
