KOCHI: The second residential module of Organic Leadership Course (OLC) by International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) started at Kochi .
The intensive, one year course empowers participants to assume greater responsibility in finding organic solutions to address the world’s environmental and social challenges.
Konrad Hauptfleisch, Academy and Program manager, said that OLC offers 150 hours of intensive training in a class of 20 - 26 participants.
This includes both residential and online seminars based on the principle of learning by doing. Participants should have their background in Farmers organizations or national organic movements, Organic companies, production, processing, trade or retail, Organic certification bodies, Consumers organisations, Organisations campaigning for sustainable rural development, Research, extension, education or rural development institutions, Government institutions (e.g. ministries of agriculture, development or environment) or Development agencies.
After completing the OLC, the leaders would be you will be able to analyze situations holistically, draw conclusions in line with the principles of Organic Agriculture, design strategies and lead people and organisations in an effective and ethical way, develop organisations and manage projects, including their planning, fundraising, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, build relationships, networks and cross- sector alliances and master convincing communication inside and outside of your institution and influence organic advocacy targets .
Participants will need to implement a project of their own and perform a public appearance (e.g. as a conference speaker or in an interview in the mass media).
Learning success depends on the participant’s attitude; readiness to share experiences and openness to build relationships with peers and other learning process stakeholders is vital to achieve the course objectives, he added.