**Developing Competencies for Rural Development Project Management through Local Action Groups: The Punta Indio (Argentina) Experience Project Management through Local Action Groups: The Punta Indio (Argentina) Experience**

**Developing Competencies for Rural Development** 

Ricardo Stratta Fernández, Ignacio de los Ríos Carmenado and Miriam López González Ignacio de los Ríos Carmenado and Miriam López González Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/67046

Ricardo Stratta Fernández,

#### **Abstract**

[18] Pallant, J. SPSS Survival Manual, A Step by Step Guide to Data Analysis using SPSS for

[19] Pindyck, R. S., and Rubinfeld, D. L. Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts. New

[20] Easterly, W. "Can Foreign Aid Buy Growth?" The Journal of Economic Perspectives,

Windows. 3rd Ed., 179–200. Sydney: McGraw Hill, 2007.

York: McGraw‐Hill, 1991.

17(3), 2003.

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This chapter provides the foundations for a new approach in competence development for rural development project management, involving the role of higher education in the solution of real-life problems. This experience took place in senior courses at La Plata University and included the participation of students from this university. The research was carried out in Punta Indio, which is affected by rural depopulation, as are the rest of the territories inside the Buenos Aires Province. The process is developed through projectbased learning (PBL) and the basis of the working with people (WWP) model, involving project management competencies according to the International Project Management Association (IPMA) standards. In the formation of local action groups (LAGs,) elements from the LEADER (Liaisons Entre Activités de Developement de l'Economie Rural) rural development model—applied in the rural territories inside the EU—were taken into account.

**Keywords:** project-based learning, rural development, professional competencies, project management, working with people, higher education

## **1. Introduction**

The University represents new training paradigms, which establish the need for greater involvement with society and the environment; not only transferring, training and communicating, but also listening, learning and reflecting on the content of the messages sent by the

community [1]. This vision regarding the role and remit of the University's activities within the community allows them to be integrated in a natural and permanent manner with teaching and research activities [2]. The UNESCO [3] report on higher education highlights the ability to adapt to changes imposed and demanded by today's society as one of the challenges faced by the university system. In this regard, not only the knowledge, personal attributes, skills and experience are important, but so-called professional competencies are also the key. There are many definitions surrounding the concept of competencies and although there is no agreement on a single definition, there are multiple different conceptual approaches. Among all of these, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) proposes a definition focused on project management and defines competence as a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge, personal attributes, skills and relevant experience in order to achieve success in a specific function [4]. As a result, competencies can be defined simply as the result of a process of integrating skills and knowledge: know, know-how, know-why, know-who [5]. However, this definition omits the fundamental role that context has with regard to competence development. According to the project management institute (PMI) [6], in terms of developing competencies for managing projects, knowledge must be adapted to the whole social and cultural system, which requires it to be used appropriately. The adaptation of this knowledge to different contexts can require a manager who is focused on solving problems. In the case of rural development projects, these managers have a fundamental role in channeling endogenous development. These criteria were used in the development of the doctoral thesis research titled "Rural development in Argentina: evolution and proposal of an intervention model for displaced rural communities in The Pampas." The research was carried out in an area called Punta Indio, in the province of Buenos Aires. A small group of part-time teachers participated in the research, as well as a group of interns formed of students in the upper years of their agricultural and forestry engineering degrees from the National University of La Plata, Argentina.

The research was aimed at identifying people who were interested in innovative proposals which would enable them to carry out new initiatives in order to implement them. As a result, training was carried out on project-based learning (PBL) [7–9] and a social activation experience from the Punta Indio region, with the objective of creating the necessary conditions to implement a development strategy. Furthermore, the research involved the creation of a local action group (LAG) (and the development of its competencies according to IPMA standards) [4], for managing rural development projects based on the specifications of the leader approach applied in the region.

## **2. Managing rural development in Argentina**

The changes created by the technological modernization process in the Argentinian farming sector in recent decades have had a significant impact on the different social actors involved. Although agriculture is modern and thriving, some externalities have arisen, such as the advances in agricultural transformation in areas outside of the Pampas and vast movements of labor to urban environments [10–12]. It is evident that the loss of rural population is a phenomenon which is seen across the world, as societies develop and as a result of the community [1]. This vision regarding the role and remit of the University's activities within the community allows them to be integrated in a natural and permanent manner with teaching and research activities [2]. The UNESCO [3] report on higher education highlights the ability to adapt to changes imposed and demanded by today's society as one of the challenges faced by the university system. In this regard, not only the knowledge, personal attributes, skills and experience are important, but so-called professional competencies are also the key. There are many definitions surrounding the concept of competencies and although there is no agreement on a single definition, there are multiple different conceptual approaches. Among all of these, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) proposes a definition focused on project management and defines competence as a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge, personal attributes, skills and relevant experience in order to achieve success in a specific function [4]. As a result, competencies can be defined simply as the result of a process of integrating skills and knowledge: know, know-how, know-why, know-who [5]. However, this definition omits the fundamental role that context has with regard to competence development. According to the project management institute (PMI) [6], in terms of developing competencies for managing projects, knowledge must be adapted to the whole social and cultural system, which requires it to be used appropriately. The adaptation of this knowledge to different contexts can require a manager who is focused on solving problems. In the case of rural development projects, these managers have a fundamental role in channeling endogenous development. These criteria were used in the development of the doctoral thesis research titled "Rural development in Argentina: evolution and proposal of an intervention model for displaced rural communities in The Pampas." The research was carried out in an area called Punta Indio, in the province of Buenos Aires. A small group of part-time teachers participated in the research, as well as a group of interns formed of students in the upper years of their agricultural and forestry engineering degrees from the National University of La Plata, Argentina. The research was aimed at identifying people who were interested in innovative proposals which would enable them to carry out new initiatives in order to implement them. As a result, training was carried out on project-based learning (PBL) [7–9] and a social activation experience from the Punta Indio region, with the objective of creating the necessary conditions to implement a development strategy. Furthermore, the research involved the creation of a local action group (LAG) (and the development of its competencies according to IPMA standards) [4], for managing rural development projects based on the specifications of the leader

approach applied in the region.

154 International Development

**2. Managing rural development in Argentina**

The changes created by the technological modernization process in the Argentinian farming sector in recent decades have had a significant impact on the different social actors involved. Although agriculture is modern and thriving, some externalities have arisen, such as the advances in agricultural transformation in areas outside of the Pampas and vast movements of labor to urban environments [10–12]. It is evident that the loss of rural population is a phenomenon which is seen across the world, as societies develop and as a result of the changes and crises in economies which affect traditional farming societies [13]. Therefore, certain authors [14, 15] believe that the agricultural transformation in Argentina has accelerated the social and population changes seen in the sector. The rural towns that make up the social framework in each region are a reflection of this situation. In many cases, the lack of new nonfarming employment opportunities combined with a series of changes that affect employment levels (family and business) in the area's farmland is the most visible problem facing the smallest of villages. These have experienced a crisis due to the lack of economic activity, which leads to a population decrease, not only as a result of an aging population but also as a result of losing young people who want to live in a better location in cities. As a result, many villages have the same kinds of problems, in a type of vicious circle: economic structure strongly linked to traditional farming activity and with a lack of appeal for new projects and diversification of production, lack of employment opportunities and withdrawal or decline in local human resources (progressive deskilling of labor, technological alienation among production agents, aging population, etc.) [12]. According to Gorenstein [16], this situation causes diseconomies (external factor that affects the normal functioning of the economy) of agglomeration and cooperation, among other effects. Argentina's current agricultural development model (especially in the Pampas where it is dominant), which is based on the production of export goods, intensive technology for supplies and capital, favors larger economies with economic concentration and deeply harms the basis for food sovereignty among the rural, periurban and urban population [17]. The changes that have been seen in the Pampas' agricultural system and their social effects have led to a series of debates relating to the focus which has guided its development over these years. The shrinking agricultural structure due to the loss of producers and reduced population levels in rural villages forms an area of research and analysis of these transformations and the ways of addressing these. At a glance, it is clear that the economic and social imbalances, which have historically defined its evolution, far from disappearing or diminishing, have become more prominent in recent years. In a way, the rural development policies that have been implemented in Argentina in the last two decades have not achieved their proposed objectives, or it may be that these problems were not considered as such for the Pampas region [12, 18]. According to some authors [19, 20], rural development in Argentina has always been linked to policies aimed at poor rural sectors in marginal areas or regions outside of the Pampas. For Schejtman and Barsky [21], rural development in Argentina is a process, a way of working toward productive progress; improving the quality of life for the rural population; strengthening civil society and democracy; territorial development; conservation of natural resources and; respect for cultural diversity. Coinciding with this focus, Sili [14] relates rural development to a process of rural transformations which arises from the organization and revitalization of the territory with the following objectives: achieve a high level of innovation and economic diversification; drastically reduce the levels of poverty and marginalization; improve infrastructure; equipment and services for economic development; and improve the quality of life for the rural population [22].

These circumstances make it necessary to find other development alternatives, where the presence and commitment of the state and public polices can be guaranteed among the most unprotected sectors [23]. More recently, based on the information provided in the National Farming Census [24], Obschatko [25, 26] created a new segment of producers, which considers "small producers" as those who directly carry out production tasks in farming operations without using salaried employees. As a result, family farming began to gather strength as a way of describing those producers in the country who are grouped in a different way to those from traditional farming and who promote other values such as: resource conservation, organization of producers, family production as a way of life and as a cultural matter. Finally, the definition indicates that the concept of family farming includes farming, livestock or cattle, fishing, forestry, agribusiness and traditional production, as well as the traditions of harvesting and rural tourism [27–29]. Toward the end of 2004, the National Federation of Family Farming (FoNAF) was created by the family farming commission, as part of the Ministry's remit and supported by the Argentine Agrarian Federation (FAA) and as a result of the proposals that emerged from the "National and Latin American Congress on Land Usage and Ownership", in which delegates from over 150 family farming organizations and indigenous communities participated. In March 2006, the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock Farming & Fishing in Argentina officially formalized the FoNAF's remit as an area for debate and agreement of public policies for family farming. In May 2006, the FoNAF's 1st National Plenary Session took place in the city of Mendoza. This led to the creation of the FoNAF's 1st Document, known as "Mendoza Document" or "agreed diagnosis for the family farming sector." In December 2015, all of these innovative actions in the field of rural development culminated in the approval by the Argentine Congress of the family farming law known as the "Historical repair of family farming to build new rural life in Argentina."
