Dijana Jevremov

Preferred presentation format: Unrefereed Paper

Affiliation(s): (1) South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI), Primary Industries & Resources SA.
(2) Horticulture Australia Ltd.

Title: Ms Dijana Jevremov Position: IPM Adoption Coordinator Organisation: South Australian Research and Development Institute Contact email: jevremov.dijana@saugov.sa.gov.au Contact phone: 08 8303 9672

Keywords: asking, listening, acting, legacies.

It’s no easy task facilitating change in a national audience that has well-established ways of doing things. In order to be effective I needed to know the best ways for the messages of my project to be heard – so I asked the target audience. This was done face to face at workshops with a show of hands, informally in conversation and anonymously via paper surveys. The next step was acting on what was stated and making it relevant. The ‘making it relevant’ part was and is still harder to achieve. Once again it is listening that guides me, but here I rely on the perspectives of researchers’ experiences in the field, those of industry development officers as well as the perspectives of key growers and consultants. I let the messages from this listening guide the particular ways to deliver the information eg. mentioning ‘saving money’ as often as is practical. I usually look for the repeated messages from various sources before I take an idea/suggestion seriously. Listening to what I am told by my audience – particularly in informal conversation has been extremely valuable in guiding my extension efforts in future project planning. In one example it has added a target audience that was previously not seriously considered. Over many years of involvement with important projects of one to three year funding terms, I have developed a mindfulness of leaving ‘information legacies’. I actively build these legacies into my work and see this as a key responsibility.

Key learning points:

• Asking my target audience how they would like to get their information - listening and acting on what is repeatedly stated
• To use the information I hear within the industry to guide my approaches
• Building legacies into my work to ‘extend’ the funding life.