Sustainable Agripreneurship Erasmus Project

Project Title

Sustainable Agripreneurship

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); Agriculture, forestry and fisheries; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has stated that the “generational renewal” of agriculture is critical for the long term viability of the sector. EU must sustain a cohort of new entrants into agriculture who will ensure the vitality, resilience and competitiveness of the agricultural sector and rural regions in Europe.

Studies have concluded that enterprises in rural areas (e.g. farmers, forest producers, winegrowers, horticulturalists, etc.) require an appropriate level of technical and economic training. This training should not only comprise of technological and managerial skills, but also of entrepreneurial skills. Farmers should possess three categories of competences: craftsmanship, management and entrepreneurship. SustainAgri addresses the latter two.

This project utilises the traits of the Millennials and Generation Z to create the springboard for a new breed of agripreneurs (entrepreneurs in agriculture) who can embrace farming and transform it into sustainable entrepreneurship. This project will develop an innovative training package of materials and tools, including a serious game, tailored to the learning needs of the younger generations. It will enable the new entrants implement a sustainability business model using the Triple Bottom Line framework to lead their agro businesses to sustainable development. The serious game will be used as a training/learning and assessment tool for the VET trainer.

The aims of this project are:
1. Strengthen the competitiveness of the agricultural sector by introducing young agripreneurs into sustainable farming;
2. Create incentives for younger people to consider entering and leading agro enterprises;
3. Link sustainability with farm profitability, demonstrating how the adoption of new technologies (smart farming) and management practices can reduce environmental impact and increase profitability;
4. Demonstrate the significant role of VET in the development of a new breed of sustainable agripreneurship;
5. Improve awareness of rural communities on social and environmental responsibility;
6. Foster transnational cooperation among the widest possible number of actors along the agricultural sector to better service sustainable farming.

The main target groups and participants in the development of the project outputs will be VET organisations already offering entrepreneurship education to SMEs and entrepreneurs (new or existing) who want to a successful career in agriculture/farming. Both of these groups will have direct engagement in the project’s intellectual outputs: the VET organisations are interested in creating an effective learning environment for the participant agripreneurs. The agripreneurs wish to receive effective and practical training on sustainable entrepreneurship in order to make their SMEs more competitive.

The project will commence with the identification of the learning objectives of this learning experience. These will lead to the development of a training curriculum and the corresponding training materials (including sustainability tools) which will “feed” the SustainAgri serious game. This serious game can be utilised as a training/learning tool as well as an assessment tool by the VET trainer. Furthermore, a practical e-toolkit, containing all useful sustainability tools and more, will be created to be easily accessed by agripreneurs. During the project the developed intellectual outputs will be tested during a train-the-trainer event. For dissemination purposes, there will be a Final Conference in Hungary where all outputs will be present to the target groups.

This project aims to facilitate CAP’s generational renewal process not only in terms of numbers, but also in terms of quality through the application of sustainable entrepreneurship. Sustainable entrepreneurship is a strategic decision which requires a support system to ensure successful deployment. This project strengthens this support system by offering a set of outputs that will equip young entrepreneurs in agriculture with the required knowledge on how to successfully reach sustainability. This will encourage more young Europeans to opt for the farming sector rather than any other sector, as it creates a secure and clear environment with great potential.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 221374 Eur

Project Coordinator

Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze & Country: CZ

Project Partners

• 8D Games BV
• CENTER FOR EDUCATION AND INNOVATION
• TREBAG SZELLEMI TULAJDON- ES PROJEKTMENEDZSER KORLATOLT FELELOSSEGU TARSASAG
• Youth Europe Service
• Exponential Training & Assessment Limited
• DEKAPLUS BUSINESS SERVICES LTD