Aqu@teach: innovative educational tools to promote learning among European students using aquaponics Erasmus Project

Project Title

Aqu@teach: innovative educational tools to promote learning among European students using aquaponics

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 higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

In ‘Ten technologies which could change our lives’ (European Parliamentary Research Service 2015), aquaponics was singled out as a solution for developing innovative and sustainable food sources for Europe. Combining two technologies – recirculating aquaculture systems and hydroponics – in a closed-loop system, aquaponics is a sustainable food production technology which requires a low level of resource input, since the plants receive their nutrients from the fish water. As a soilless cultivation method, aquaponic systems can be used for growing food in cities, and thus could help to reduce carbon emissions and improve food security and the resilience of urban food systems by shortening supply chains. However, in order for aquaponics to develop its potential in Europe, it needs an appropriately trained workforce. The Aqu@teach project aimed to address that need, by developing the first ever aquaponics curriculum specifically for higher education students. Aquaponic food production is complex and requires a broad spectrum of knowledge – aquaculture, horticulture, chemistry, biology, food safety, engineering – in order to understand and manage the processes involved. The project is a showcase for best practice in online and blended learning curriculum design. The multidisciplinary curriculum has been designed to equip students with expert knowledge and skills, as well as digital, entrepreneurial and transferable skills. The e-learning course was developed in collaboration by the University of Greenwich (UK), the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (CH), the Technical University of Madrid (ES), the University of Ljubljana and the Biotechnical Center Naklo (SI). Given the multidisciplinary nature of aquaponics, it can be taught as an optional module in a wide variety of different degree courses, including agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, aquaculture, and ecological engineering. Indeed, catering for the variety of backgrounds of the potential students was one of the greatest challenges that the partnership faced when developing Aqu@teach. It can be taught either using blended learning – combining digital media and the Internet with classroom formats that require the physical co-presence of the teacher and students – or as an instructor-led, cohort-based e-learning course. It consists of a fifteen module Aquaponics Curriculum (5 ECTS) and a supplementary Entrepreneurial Skills module (2 ECTS). All the modules were designed using a Toolbox of Innovative Didactic Practices intended to encourage a mixture of student dialogue and collaboration, autonomy, critical thinking, and creativity. The Aquapaonics Curriculum was pilot tested at each of the five partner institutions, with students studying very different disciplines: landscape architecture (Greenwich), agricultural engineering (Madrid), natural resource sciences (Zurich), sanitary engineering (Ljubljana) and horticulture (Naklo). The pilot run was evaluated on the basis of comprehensive student feedback on each individual module and on the various teaching and learning methods used, and self-evaluation by the tutors. The lessons learnt were then developed into the Teaching Aquaponics: Best Practice Guide which provides instructors with fresh ideas for achieving the best educational results when teaching an interdisciplinary subject which requires high-quality knowledge in diverse fields as well as the specifics of interdisciplinary integration. The supplementary Entrepreneurial Skills curriculum was developed and taught during a summer school in Slovenia with students from the four countries participating in the project, and has subsequently been converted into an e-learning module. It builds on the knowledge which students will have gained through completing the Aquaponics Curriculum, and introduces the main processes involved in developing a business idea into a start-up company – business models, customer segmentation, value proposition, marketing and pricing, and financing. As well as gaining high level knowledge and specific professional competences in the field of aquaponics, the participating students developed transferable skills which should provide them with a competitive advantage in the labour market. Arguably the greatest impact so far has been on the teachers, as a result of the numerous opportunities that the project afforded for continuous professional development. The transnational and multidisciplinary nature of the partnership exposed them to new ways of thinking about their pedagogic practice, and the nature of the project itself enhanced their digital and entrepreneurial skills. The dissemination of the outputs will encourage the widespread adoption of Aqu@teach by HE institutions across Europe, which in turn will facilitate the development and expansion of aquaponics as a sustainable food production technology.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 173905,79 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH & Country: UK

Project Partners

• UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI
• Biotehniski center Naklo
• UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID
• ZURCHER HOCHSCHULE FUR ANGEWANDTE WISSENSCHAFTEN