Educational experiences with environmental farm plans in a case‐study setting

Abstract

One of the higher agricultural education tools being used in Canada is environmental farm plans (EFPs) in a case‐study setting. Initiated in Ontario in the early 1990's, EFPs were developed by farmers in response to growing threats of public intervention to enforce compliance with environmental standards. All farming activities are assessed for their risk of environmental damage within the scope of an integrated stewardship plan for air, soil, water, wildlife habitat and wildlife resources. The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) at the University of Guelph uses EFPs as a case‐study method of teaching theoretical, practical and experimental aspects of conservation and stewardship. Small groups of students work under the supervision of OAC multi‐disciplinary team staff in close co‐operation with farmers to develop an EFP for a specific farm. The emphasis is on applying the principles of systemic learning pioneered at the University of Western Sydney at Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia. Systemic learning seeks to combine learning for knowing (theoretical knowledge), learning for doing (practical knowledge) and learning from devising new ways of solving problems and addressing issues (experiential knowledge, or learning for being). Oral presentations and written reports by the student groups are used for assessment, as well as for case‐study discussions to enrich the learning process.