Agroforestry practices in West Balkan for sustainable development: weaknesses and strengths
▶Summary
The aim of AGFORWEB project was to improve education in the field of agroforestry which is recognized as sustainable land use solution with potential to combat climate change, enhance biodiversity...
▶Objectives
The aim of AGFORWEB project was to improve education in the field of agroforestry which is recognized as sustainable land use solution with potential to combat climate change, enhance biodiversity, and improve local people well-being. Curricula improvement of seven agroforestry or related modules at partner universities included the implementation of digital tools in planning and design of agroforestry practices, and creation of new learning materials such as a textbook - Agroforestry Practices in Southeast Europe and a manual for digital databases - GIS Application in Agroforestry. The joint digital database, enabled raising of digital literacy of students and their learning on real-world data but also it is resource for research. To ensure that knowledge in agroforestry is inclusive and accessible to farmers and policymakers, guides - Agroforestry in Practice were prepared in local languages, and workshops were conducted for them. Finally, sharing best practices among partner countries through study visits and guest lectures has fostered exchange and internationalization. That also strengthen cooperation among partner institutions and enabled networking both teaching stuff and students.
▶Activities
To ensure effective project implementation we conducted various activities. We analyzed existing Agroforestry module curricula and agroforestry related fields at partner universities compare them with Agroforestry module curricula at EU universities to identify gaps and effectively improve existing curricula and to prepare curriculum for new Agroforestry module at UOM. Also, a digital database was created primarily for student training, which aims to support curriculum improvements made in accordance with modern agroforestry modules curricula at EU universities. Provision of learning materials for students was conducted through activities of creating textbooks in English and partner languages, manual for utilizing digital database. To support lifelong learning, we prepared guides - Agroforestry in Practice in partner languages which were presented and distributed to attendees at workshops for local community. Knowledge exchange and networking were enabled through conducted study visits and held guest lectures. Continuous dissemination of results and project was conducted through preparation and distribution of promotion materials, conferences, and other events, magazine articles as well as by project website and social networks.