Biocontrol E-Training Erasmus Project

Project Title

Biocontrol E-Training

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Agriculture, forestry and fisheries; Open and distance learning

Project Summary

In a European context of reducing the use of conventional pesticides (“Pesticide Package”), biocontrol (use of natural products for the management of pests and diseases) is a very promising alternative.
The market for biocontrol products is indeed growing and several dozen new products are expected on the European market within 5 years.
However, despite the rapid development of agricultural practices, the specific actors (farmers, training organizations, students in the agricultural sector, etc.) are not necessarily trained in this issue. There are currently few training courses on biocontrol and these are for the most part incomplete and do not cover all the important aspects of biocontrol (regulation, marketed products, implementation of the global strategy, etc.). In addition, these training courses are not accessible to all actors in the agricultural sector (rural areas) and are not intended to train trainers.
This is why the objective of the BET project was to develop a new distance learning course on biocontrol for a large audience of trainers (training organizations, Universities, technical schools and high schools, Chambers of Agriculture, Technical institutes, etc.) in different European countries, affected by the same regulations. Secondly, this project indirectly targeted learners linked to agricultural education (students, farmers, agricultural technicians, etc.), to improve their knowledge of biocontrol.
To achieve this goal, several activities were carried out
– Study :
The first step of the BET project was to conduct an international study with a large audience of trainers (training organizations, Universities, Schools, Chambers of Agriculture, Technical institutes, etc.) and learners (students, farmers, professionals, etc. ).
The objective was to define the training needs of the target groups in the field of biocontrol to develop the training program.
The study was conducted through the distribution of electronic questionnaires to all target audiences in all participating countries. The list of stakeholders’ contacts was established via the networks of the project partners, but also following certain BtoB meetings during conferences.
300 participants were expected. 445 participants finally responded to the survey (67% learners and 33% trainers). 80% of them showed an interest in the project testing phase.
– Training development:
Thanks to the results of the study, we developed the training program on biocontrol.
4 training courses have been created (General concepts / Research and development / Integrated Pest Management / Regulations).
Each training course available in 4 languages ​​(EN, FR, SP, IT) contains around ten videos, podcats, PDFs and self-assessment quizzes. The content is implemented on an LMS platform created as part of the BET project (https://mygreentrainingbox.com/). To complete this digital content, webinars were produced and subsequently broadcast in the form of a mini web-series on biocontrol posted on youtube in spring 2020.
– Testing phase :
More than 1000 participants have registered on the BET training platform since the testing phase launching.
109 participants provided feedback to improve the platform and digital content (= testing phase 1).
211 participants (mainly students and agricultural technicians) also took part in a more in-depth testing phase (=testing phase 2) with an assessment of the level before and after the follow-up of the training. This testing phase, coupled with the testing phase 1 questionnaire, highlighted the educational quality of the training created and the diversity of the potential target audience.

Project Website

https://e-biocontol.com

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 127974 Eur

Project Coordinator

AKINAO & Country: FR

Project Partners

• AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI CAGLIARI
• Leno Consulting