Strengthening Key Competences in Agriculture for Value Chain Knowledge

The European Union has adopted the circular economy as a key global strategy to advance societies toward the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This shift moves from the traditional l...

The project aimed to enhance the skills development of target beneficiaries (students, potential students, and agricultural producers) by introducing the concepts of Circular Agriculture and Green Growth. It also sought to modernize agricultural curricula, making them more attractive to future students. Additionally, SKILLS focused on creating job opportunities and expanding career prospects in green skills and Circular Agriculture by improving the competencies of the target group. Ultimately, the SKILLS project promoted Circular Agriculture as a sustainable and resilient sector. The SKILLS consortium aimed to increase awareness of Circular Agriculture through a Baseline study on typology and training materials, which included practical know-how and a structured set of tools, modules and digital courses. These resources were designed to help agricultural practitioners shift their mindset and rethink their practices.

To contribute to the modernization of programs and courses offered by the Faculties of Agriculture and to promote Circular Agriculture, the SKILLS project had planned a series of activities, including project meetings, result dissemination, national webinars and a media event. These activities were tailored to the needs of various target groups such as students, agricultural producers, potential future students, policymakers, researchers ans development practitioners. For the successful implementation of the SKILLS project, the following concrete activities were carried out: 1) Five transnational meetings were organized to discuss, coordinate, and implement project results. 2) Five key project results were produced: PR1. Baseline study on agricultural profiles; PR2. Green skills module; PR3. Agri-Lingua Practicum; PR4. Agro-food production toolkit; PR5. Digital course in Circular Agriculture. 3) National webinars were conducted based on the project results. 4) A large-scale media (Multiplier) event was held to promote the SKILLS project activities and the Erasmus+ program, facilitating networking among stakeholders in circular agriculture, sustainability, higher education and representatives from education ministries involved in curriculum development.