ACRE Community of Practice

ACRE: STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR AGRICLUSTERS

AgriCluster Resilience and Expansion - or ACRE for short - is a professionally-facilitated strategic planning process to help groups of farmers, especially those in value-chains, work together and compete more effectively in an increasingly complex world.

By identifying shared concerns, shared histories, shared values, shared opportunities, and developing a strategic work plan, ACRE helps local and regional groups of farmers and their stakeholder allies - including fisheries, mariculture, agroforestry and timber production, food handlers, food processors and packagers, distributors, and retailers, as well as nonprofit and municipal allies - begin to transform into more resilient "AgriClusters."

The ACRE Facilitator Training Program provides instruction specifically designed for food and agriculture systems professionals to facilitate and guide the ACRE Process with farmers and other community stakeholders. We aim to have trained ACRE Facilitators working in all US states and Washington D.C. by the end of 2024.

Food system and agriculture development professionals are invited to take the course.

For those who wish to take their ACRE training further, we encourage you to become a Certified ACRE Facilitator by completing a practicum and taking a final exam. Certified ACRE Facilitators are eligible to train other professionals who are working with farmer-led value-chain projects.

TRAINING PROGRAM COURSE CONTENT

The online, self-paced, asynchronous training program is divided into three parts:

ACRE Part #1 - Preparing to Launch an AgriCluster, including:

Unit 1. Introduction to the ACRE Process

Unit 2. ACRE Theory, Principles, and Foundations

Unit 3. ACRE Fundamentals of Facilitation

Unit 4. Core Group Formation

Unit 5. Core Group Planning Meeting

Unit 6. Setting the Stage for the ACRE Workshop

ACRE Part #2 - Conducting an ACRE Workshop, including:

Unit 7. Launching the ACRE Workshop

Unit 8. Shared History Exercise

Unit 9. Shared Values Exercise

Unit 10. Shared Vision Exercise

Unit 11. Opportunity Generating Exercise

Unit 12. Initiative Build-Out Exercise

Unit 13. Prefeasibility Analysis

Unit 14. Drafting the Project Work Plan

Unit 15. Workshop Wrap-Up and Evaluation

ACRE Part #3 - Approving and Implementing an ACRE Project Work Plan, including:

Unit 16. Post-Workshop Core Group Meeting

Unit 17. The ACRE Project Summit

Unit 18. Project Implementation: An Overview

What is AgriCluster Resilience and Expansion?

Click here to watch the video.

THE ACRE FACILITATOR TRAINING & CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

The ACRE Facilitation Training is free for NAFSN members. Please inquire here to enroll in the course.

An ACRE Facilitator Course Graduate has completed the online coursework.

An ACRE Certified Facilitator has completed the online coursework, passed a final exam, and demonstrated ACRE in practice.

The ACRE Program is firmly rooted in equitable access and engagement. Women, Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+ candidates, people with disabilities, as well as rural and urban candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

For technical support with any ACRE coursework, please contact us here with your specific questions!

* ATTEND AN ACRE INFORMATION SESSION*

UPCOMING DATES & REGISTRATION:

COLLABORATORS & FUNDERS

The ACRE Facilitator Training and Certification Program is a Franco-American collaborative of the Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems, VetAgro Sup (in France), Cornell University's Cooperative Enterprise Program, and the North American Food Systems Network (NAFSN).

Funding for ACRE has come from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Professional Development Program (NESARE), and the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD).