WIM as part of the professional training curriculum

As part of the Art de Vivre "life-skills" education pillar of WIM, the DWA developed its own training programme and tools for one-day seminars in wine-related Vocational Education and Training establishments. The training programme includes 4 sections:

• The Wine in Moderation programme, alcohol policy and legal framework;
• Health effects of wine & other alcoholic beverages;
• Alcohol metabolism, drinking patterns and risks of excessive consumption;
• Conclusions: Guidelines for responsible wine consumption.

Following the very impressive results of this training scheme during its first period 2008-2010, the programme was sustained and further developed. During 2011- 2012, more than 43 training seminars were delivered to all 15 wine-related professionals & sommelier schools as well as to universities, reaching more than 1,400 students who act as multipliers of the WIM message for the entire sector and for the benefit of the general public.

The Deutsche Weinakademie has developed an evaluation tool to assess the impact of its training module: all students participating in the training seminar fills in a questionnaire before and after the training session to assess their level of knowledge and the effectiveness of the programme. In addition, another random assessment is carried out one year after the training.

The results of the first 3 year pilot phase evaluation show a considerable increase in knowledge among seminar participants. This is the reason why the WIM seminar developed by DWA is now part of the training curriculum in wine related professional schools.