Enhancing Youth Entrepreneurship Skills, Careers Guidance and Competences in Agriculture Thought a Game based Virtual Reality Platform Erasmus Project

Project Title

Enhancing Youth Entrepreneurship Skills, Careers Guidance and Competences in Agriculture Thought a Game based Virtual Reality Platform

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 youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Rural development and urbanisation; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The importance of the agricultural sector is crucial for the economy and society of the EU. Its contribution in terms of employment globally accounts for 32% and can provide great potential in creating new jobs, fighting unemployment and strengthening cuntries` economies. The significance of involving young people in agriculture, improving their skills and entrepreneurial competencies in reversing the trend of ever aging population of farmers in the EU is plain to see. This importance is also clearly presented at EU level: Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) 2014-2020 and the EU 2020 strategy for innovation, growth and jobs but also the new EU Research and innovation strategy 2020-2024 that will play a key role in responding to the challenges brought about by the global COVID-19 pandemic. It will help deliver Europe’s recovery plan, paving the way out of the current crisis based on economic growth that respects the planet. These strategies call to adopt recommendations in order to support different national high-quality education programmes that will focus on youth agriculture entrepreneurship by offering innovative educational training. Programmes such as Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ nurture research and training in the field of agriculture and entrepreneurship and stress their growing importance.

AGRIENT Project: “Enhancing Youth Entrepreneurship Skills, Career Guidance and Competences in Agriculture Through a Game Based Virtual Reality Platform“, aimed at designing a training curriculum in agriculture and entrepreneurship with innovative courses and creation of Open Educational Resources, complemented by up-to-date and technology-enhanced 3D virtual world training platform to meet the needs of training in these fields and indirectly to promote and support young people in formulating, starting, running and improving their own agribusinesses. The project implementation period had initially been scheduled for 24 months but due to the pandemic situation this period was extended by 5 months, with the end in June 2021.

AGRIENT project adapted the curriculum and materials to specific regional and national needs, developed 5 distinctive courses or modules with exercises on complex issues, gathered examples of good practice from participating countries and provided interactive and innovative open educational resource. The learning materials of the courses, 3D learning scenarios following gamification ideas were all hosted in the 3D virtual world educational platform freely available online with the total of 21 interactive learning scenarios.
The main target groups young people interested in agriculture and entrepreneurship, graduates of agriculture educational institutes, young NEETS, teachers/trainers/tutors from HE institutions, VET institutions, elementary and secondary schools, youth training centers, young people from isolated rural areas, adult education and training institutions and other related groups: career counselors and agencies, policy makers, youth educational networks, development agencies, youth agriculture and entrepreneurship networks.

The main aims of the AGRIENT project were to :
• Create an innovative curriculum based on agriculture and entrepreneurship, create an innovative 3D educational virtual world platform;
• Promote entrepreneurship education for developing active citizenship, employability and creating new businesses, support future learning and career pathways for individuals,
in accordance with their personal and professional development;
• Update and improve instructors’ knowledge and support related professional groups, educational and youth institutions and training centres
• Create a network of stakeholders at local and regional level to raise awareness of relevant institutions in the field;
• Provide young people in isolated and remote rural areas with freely available and innovative learning environments to overcome geographic and economic obstacles

The results of the project were materialized in the following Intellectual outputs:
• O1: Design of Agro-Entrepreneurship Curriculum, Formulation of Innovative Courses and Creation of Open Educational Resources
• O2: Game-based 3D Virtual Reality Educational Platform for Agro-Entrepreneurship Education

In the final stage of outputs development, these were validated by selected participants during pilot testing, and the final results were improved according to their feedback and
recommendations. The project has developed user-driven and interactive training tools, which are unique in Europe; it had a major impact not only in terms of target beneficiaries, but also through relevance, usefulness and transferability of the project results.
AGRIENT is a sustainable project and it developed innovative practices which are fully transferable to other areas. Both project outputs can be used as a model for educational processes, as a guideline how to proceed with the educational and methodological aspects of trainings not only in the subjects of agriculture and entrepreneurship, but they can also be adapted into other fields and sectors in education.

Project Website

http://agrient.eu/index.php/en/home

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 213777 Eur

Project Coordinator

Veleuciliste u Sibeniku & Country: HR

Project Partners

• PANEPISTIMIO PATRON
• SLOVENSKA POLNOHOSPODARSKA UNIVERZITA V NITRE
• Asociatia Centrul de Training European
• MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT OF CYPRUS
• INSTITOUTO TECHNOLOGIAS YPOLOGISTONKAI EKDOSEON DIOFANTOS