Agrof-MM Erasmus Project

Project Title

Agrof-MM

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 2015

Project Topics

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

Project Summary

The Agrof-MM project in Agroforestry Education, Mediterranean & Mountains ereas, is aimed at farmers, future farmers, advisors and stakeholders in Agroforestry. This agricultural system has experienced a strong abandonment in the 20th century, to count today only a few million ha in Europe. Following the work of scientific research, development structures-agencies, and the experiments of some professionals, in recent years, agroforestry has met a true national and European recognition.
Depending on the country, states or professional organizations and training actors reintroduce Agroforestry in the course of training and qualification in initial education (VET) and in adult training. Based on the results of scientific research, development structures and those of the “farmer-researchers”, experimental courses were conducted in different countries, including FR, in the UK or in IT, on a small scale, as resources, trainers and available skills are scarce. It is on these four components: the results of scientific research, professional practice formalized training based on business situations, innovative teaching resources, the transfer from past AgroFE ToI project, the AgroF-MM project is based. In the partnership countries, the need for conversion and development is between 25 000 and 30 000 farms in the next 5 to7 years, which means training 25,000 to 30,000 farming managers (L4 to L6 by country) as well as the same number of workers and ‘’small farmers’’, L2-L3-L4 by country.
But in order to achieve, to support these conversions, these profound changes in modes of practical production, we need counsellors-advisors, trainers, specialists and the level of human resources is low! The partners have identified training needs in the short term: These needs are on the one hand farmers and future farmers, adults and pupils – students, on the other hand, middle managers and teachers-counsellors-specialists. These requirements therefore relate to two levels of qualification L2-L3-L4 L5+/L6 and 3 types of learners (target groups):
– Students (in VET) and adults, small farmers, future farmers and workers in farming on the one hand, mainly L2-L3, sometimes L4,
– the farmers and future farmers (in larger farms) and middle management, mainly L3-L4-L5, sometimes L5,
– the advisors-teachers-specialists, mainly level L5+L6,
and the stakeholders of the oriention-pretraining tools and support systems, to attract learners, future farmers or to inform farmers and farming workers..
In the short term, the project will address these 4 needs / three publics through a AgroF-MM training system established by the partners, partly based on the AgroFE Leonardo ToI project, the development of the EU AgForward RTD 7th research, the EURAF EU research association and its working groups, and the outcomes from the French RMT and Casdar programme. The project would be build on innovative teaching and training practices,( FR, GR BG), for instance on professional situations providing training and certification at the workplace (like SPS in France), access to recognized qualifications (NQF, EQF, ECVET, ECTS when possible), a process based on ‘’russian dolls’’, the certified and accredited inferior level giving access to the superior one, the certification at L4 giving access to L5 in the same domain.
The training paths at the two planned levels have been developed with a common professional reference system, called the European Professional Referential in Agroforestry, EPRA, a common content, training framework for agroforestry called Core Content. In order to reduce the differences in knowledge and skills between the partners It has been necessary to develop a common professional vocabulary, the Theaurus, which did not exist, which required an important work with trainers- teacher-researchers, professionals, Thesaurus which represents an additional production of the project. A training framework adaptable to the specificities and training modalities of each of the partner countries has been designed and successfully implemented in six partner countries to train more than 150 operators and professionals in training 5j, more than 300 in training 1j and 70 trainers and advisors.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 388838,25 Eur

Project Coordinator

INSTITUT NATIONAL SUPERIEUR DES SCIENCES AGRONOMIQUES DE L’ALIMENTATION ET DE L’ENVIRONEMENT & Country: FR

Project Partners

• AFTD (Albanian Foundation for Training & Development)
• EPLEFPA des Vosges
• TECHNOLOGIKO EKPEDEFTIKO IDRIMA STEREAS ELLADAS
• ASSOCIATION FRANCAISE D AGROFORESTERIE, DES RACINES ET DES CIMES
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DELLA TUSCIA
• Friends of Nature
• TRAKIYSKI UNIVERSITET