After the public Kick-off conference at the end of January and a lot of press coverage afterwards, many people reached out to us. They asked for more information about the LIFEstockProtect project, the planned trainings and volunteer activities. This motivated the LIFEstockProtect team to progress even faster with the coordination of the livestock protection competence centres and volunteer network. Besides that, the data collection for most preparatory A actions has been finalised or is close to completion. And the communication team has exciting news: read on on to find out more!
Please also read: Livestock Protection Conference: 500+ Participants
Livestock protection competence centres and scat dog trainings
So called livestock protection competence centres will be established throughout the project region. Basically, these are farms that meet specific requirements regarding location, accessibility, livestock and availability during and beyond the project period. In the course of February, the LIFEstockProtect team defined the specific criteria for the competence centres and confirmed already the participation of many farms that reached out to the project. They will be the focal contact point for the livestock protection trainings and fence labs to test livestock protection materials. Their effort, of course, will be be compensated.
Depending on the available livestock and type of pastures, different trainings will take place in different competence centres. We aim for every interested individual to be able to participate in the different livestock protection trainings. Thus, we are making sure that the competence centres are distributed evenly within the project region of Austria, Bavaria and South Tyrol. The owners of the designated competence centres will be actively involved in the livestock protection trainings conducted at their farms. Like this, they also learn from experts and eventually will be able to conduct their own trainings and actively promote effective livestock protection in their region.
On another front we also made great progress: scat dog trainings, conducted by Naturschutzhunde, will start soon! The curricula has been finalised and we are now in the process of promoting the training to interested individuals. On Wednesday, 3rd of March 2021, a coordination meeting will inform them about the details of the training. Are you interested too? We still have a couple of spots left in the meeting (more details below).
LIFEstockProtect Podcast coming soon
Podcasting is a medium that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. It is a great way to share expertise and valuable information in an interactive way. And it can be accessed through many different channels, no matter where you are. Wouldn’t it be great if one could learn about livestock protection while driving, cooking, or taking a walk? We thought so too! That’s why the LIFEstockProtect communication team is developing a concept for a LIFEstockProtect podcast right now. We aim to launch it as soon as summer 2021. As one says in the podcast world: stay tuned!
A action progress
As part of the A action 4, the action team has collected data about existing livestock protection trainings in the project region. This data will be used to develop project-specific trainings. Thus, building upon the best practices of current trainings and filling gaps in the different project regions. Interestingly, most trainings could be identified in Italy. This is a good indication that the planned trainings will add great value, especially in Austria and Germany. The curricula for the upcoming trainings will be developed in the course of the next months, based on the collected information.
In the course of February all partners were contributing to the stakeholder analysis. Together we identified hundreds of stakeholders in the project region that form now on will be actively involved in the project. This preliminary analysis will be used to invite interested individuals to thematic stakeholder workshops in the course of the project. This is of course a dynamic process, which means that the project stakeholder database will be updated on a frequent basis.
LIFEstockProtect in the news in February 2021
Podcast Land und Leben – das Magazin für Landwirtschaft: Interview mit Julia Stauder von Eurac Research