Pro Green
European agriculture is facing a significant transformation. Reduction of CO2 emissions, preservation of biodiversity, careful use of soil, air and water are just some of the demands made by politicians, nature conservation associations and citizens’ initiatives. At the same time, farmers are expected to generate sustainable incomes, increase their competitiveness, produce high-quality food and, at the same time, take on important social functions such as inclusion and the development of local networks. However, according to the European Parliament’s assessment, there is a lack of important qualifications for this, as only 8.5% of farmers have a comprehensive education. Also, the current generation of European farmers is severely over-aged, with only 11% younger than 40 and a third over 65. This means that the substantive ecological transformation must be accompanied by a personnel one. This project wants to contribute to better agricultural qualifications with the educational products to be developed, in order to be able to support the personnel and ecological transformation processes in the EU in the best possible way. An important concern of the project is an inclusive project design in order to promote equal opportunities and equal access to educational programs in agriculture. In this way, an important contribution is made to socially responsible agriculture. Ecology through economy is the conviction that characterizes the consortium and this project. Ecological measures are only sustainable if they also make business sense for the individual farmer, because a loss-making farm cannot hold its own in the market. For this reason, business management skills specifically for organic farming are imparted through targeted further training, thus enabling farmers who want to operate in an ecologically and socially sustainable manner to generate sustainable incomes.
European agriculture is facing a significant transformation. Reduction of CO2 emissions, preservation of biodiversity, careful use of soil, air, and water are just some of the demands made by politicians, nature conservation associations, and citizens’ initiatives. At the same time, farmers are expected to generate sustainable incomes, increase their competitiveness, produce high-quality food, and take on important social functions such as inclusion and the development of local networks.
However, according to the European Parliament’s assessment, there is a lack of important qualifications for this, as only 8.5% of farmers have a comprehensive education. Also, the current generation of European farmers is severely over-aged, with only 11% younger than 40 and a third over 65. This means that the substantive ecological transformation must be accompanied by a personnel one.
This project wants to contribute to better agricultural qualifications with the educational products to be developed, in order to be able to support the personnel and ecological transformation processes in the EU in the best possible way. An important concern of the project is an inclusive project design to promote equal opportunities and equal access to educational programs in agriculture. In this way, an important contribution is made to socially responsible agriculture.
Ecology through the economy is the conviction that characterizes the consortium and this project. Ecological measures are only sustainable if they also make business sense for the individual farmer because a loss-making farm cannot hold its own in the market. For this reason, business management skills specifically for organic farming are imparted through targeted further training, thus enabling farmers who want to operate in an ecologically and socially sustainable manner to generate sustainable incomes.
The implementation of this project pursues seven main objectives, which are to be achieved during the project duration and reflect the individual differences of the project partners. One objective is to transfer dual vocational training from countries with mature dual vocational training systems to countries with school-based training to promote work-based learning throughout the EU in accordance with the Osnabrück Declaration. Also, important to us is the inclusion of practically gifted individuals who have difficulties with traditionally theory-heavy educational programs. For them, a tailor-made program will be developed that offers them a qualified perspective in agriculture in general and specifically in agricultural education.
The qualification of vocational school teachers is another important objective. Only excellently trained teachers can provide good educational work. In this way, the further implementation of the project results is ensured, also with the transfer partners. In addition, the project consortium would like to create good training conditions in companies, as it is crucial for the success of work-based education programs that there are advanced trained trainers in the companies.
The project partners would further like to achieve that skilled workers and managers in agriculture are qualified to a large extent. These training measures are to cover two important areas. It should be ensured that farmers are familiarized with the latest developments and processes in organic farming and are also given the opportunity for partial implementation of organic measures at their farm. This ensures that changes take place at all and that even small successes increase the interest in organic farming.
Furthermore, the goal is to impart knowledge about sustainable ecological and social management in agriculture and to achieve that ecology is also economically worthwhile for farmers, secures sustainable incomes in the long term, and creates lasting perspectives. Finally, the aim is to transfer the results achieved throughout the EU and to strengthen international cooperation between the participating institutions and the associated partners. In this way, relationships are established and connections created that continue long after the project has ended and support the European integration of institutions and people.
