People and Change in Agriculture micro-credential

What you will learn

Gain contemporary skills and knowledge for your job now.

An understanding of how people and organisations approach change is essential for those wanting to drive innovation in agriculture.

This micro-credential is ideal for agricultural practitioners and extensionists seeking the skills and knowledge to influence sustainable change among farmers, scientists, value chain actors or communities.

Understand theories of change

Explore relevant frameworks and theories of change and consider different contexts for change in agriculture. Examine theories such as adoption/diffusion, consultancy and collaborative inquiry and learning.

Evaluate the roles of various people and groups

Understand the different roles the individuals and groups play to support agricultural change. Evaluate the role of a chosen practitioner in the field.

Formulate and justify a change plan

Drawing on your new understanding, you will develop a change plan relating to a practice change challenge. You'll reference change theory to justify your chosen approach.

This micro-credential is ideal for a wide range of agricultural practitioners and extensionists. You may be working in livestock, grains, horticulture or viticulture. Or you may work for a government body, environmental group or land management organisation that interacts with farmers.

To be eligible for this course, you must have completed:

• An undergraduate degree in agricultural or a related field, eg natural resource management, science

or

• Two years of work experience in agricultural science, natural resource management or associated fields.

This Melbourne MicroCert is open to both domestic and international participants.

This micro-credential has been developed in close consultation with industry to ensure your knowledge is contemporary and industry-aligned. It will equip you with the skills and advanced knowledge needed to influence sustainable innovation and change within agriculture.

If you're a member of the Agricultural Institute of Australia, this series of micro-credentials may contribute to 'certified practising agriculturalist' professional development hours.

By the end of this course, you will have developed a strong grounding in theories of change within an agricultural context. You'll be able to:

• Analyse the context of change in agriculture, drawing on theories such as adoption/diffusion, consultancy and collaborative inquiry and learning
• Evaluate the role of a chosen practitioner in the field in supporting change
• Formulate and justify a change plan that is relevant to a practice change challenge with reference to change theory.

This course runs over 12 weeks.

Your total time commitment is approximately 40 hours, which includes:

• 7 hours guided learning
• 20 hours independent study
• 13 hours assessment tasks.

Assessment:

• A video presentation, annotated flow chart or written report that outlines and analyses an agricultural change challenge (30%)
• A written report or annotated presentation that responds to the change challenge, drawing upon relevant theories of change and describing how you may apply these (70%).

Once you've successfully completed this course, you will be awarded your People and Change in Agriculture micro-credential. This digital certificate will warrant the achievement of knowledge, skills and capabilities outlined in the learning outcomes. It may also include artefacts (such as videos and written material) related to both experiential and work-integrated learning, including translatable assessment that is practical to your professional life. You can also share your micro-credential digitally and via social media by adding it to your personal platforms, such as LinkedIn. See example certificate.

People and Change in Agriculture is part of the Agricultural Extension series of micro-credentials, which is designed to be taken sequentially, in the order below.

It also offers a pathway - otherwise known as advanced standing - into the Master of Agricultural Sciences. To use it this way, you need to complete all four micro-credentials in the Agricultural Extension series, then apply for credit towards the masters.

This series includes:

• People and Change in Agriculture
• Supporting Farm Practice Change
• Evaluation in Agricultural Innovation

In our innovative online environment, you'll learn alongside a diverse range of industry professionals, and be guided by leading practitioners. You'll review relevant case studies, theories and frameworks, and engage in exploratory discussions with your peers in the online forum, gaining new perspectives on your agricultural practice.

There is no set expiry date.