A new approach to improve knowledge and management of grapevine virus diseases: the PAThOGEN project and course

Beside the well-known fungal pathologies, grapevine virus diseases are of major importance in grapegrowing areas, also due to the limited knowledge by the professionals of the sector. To face this problem, the PAThOGEN training program was developed, with the aims of: (i) building a high-quality Vocational and Education Training program, (ii) improving the skills of the main actors of the wine sector. The pilot courses were developed in two levels (Basic and Advanced) and made available on a dedicated online platform in 4 languages (French, Italian, Spanish and English). Moreover, two field sessions were organized in each of the 3 partner countries in order to complete the theoretical training. A specific feature of this project was the “demand driven approach” used to conceive the courses. Indeed, a panel of experts and 128 “student-testers” were selected in the 3 countries in the different professional categories to test the training program. 98% of the testers evaluated the training course as "interesting" or "very interesting". The detailed evaluations allowed us to rework the courses both in terms of content and functionality. The e-learning training is now available in the four languages, and the field training is annually organized in France, Italy and Spain.