The Sustainable Winegrowing Program (SWP) provides self-assessment workshops throughout California where workbooks are distributed to all workshop attendees at no charge.California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) works with California wine regional associations, vintners and growers to organize and carry out workshops in each winegrowing region in the state. These workshops can be hosted by regional associations and/or individual vintner and grower companies.The self-assessment workshops are an excellent way to learn more about the overall program and how the workbook information can be applied to your operation. SWP consultants or regional association staff will lead each workshop and assist attendees in completing the workbook self-assessment evaluations. The evaluations will be entered into a SWP program database and confidential customized reports are mailed to participants. The reports highlight the operation's strengths and areas for improvement and helps participants focus their resources to implement new practices. Individual confidentiality will always be maintained. The size of the workshops has ranged from five to more than twenty people. Smaller workshops (8-12 people) tend to be more interactive. On average, it takes about three hours to complete the vineyard or winery self-assessment evaluations. We have found it is best to schedule four hours per workshop to include time for discussion and a meal.

Targeted education events cover topics that are identified in statewide assessment reports as areas for improvement, since the program is designed to improve sustainable practices. CSWA works with regional associations to design the targeted education event content to match the needs of growers and vintners in each region. Among the topics addressed at the workshops are the latest best management practices, government cost-share opportunities, and in-field or winery examples from demonstration sites. Speakers include winegrowing experts from the industry as well as government agencies, academia, consulting firms and private companies. Current targeted education events cover Integrated Pest Management, Ecosystems Management, Energy Efficiency, Water Quality and Air Quality. Please check our website calendar for workshop dates and email info@sustainablewinegrowing.org if you are interested in hosting a workshop or would like to be added to a workshop notification list.