Education leads to knowledge and awareness
High level of education is an essential part of building growth and development.
The Erasmus+ program of the European Union for education, training, youth, and sports is not only about the well-known Key Action 1: Learning Mobility of Individuals, where undergraduate and graduate students combine “learning and partying” at universities in Europe. It is also about partnerships and capacity building as Key Action 2: “Cooperation among organisations and institutions”, as well as policy cooperation at European Union level in Key action 3: “Support to policy development and cooperation”. As we at the Department of Agroecology are neither politicians nor party-people, it is the partnerships and capacity building we are involved from late 2023/early 2024 and for the next three years, via two very unique projects: the “mastErs COurse on smart sustainability soLUTIONs” (ECOLUTION) and the “Asian Clusters in Agriculture and Climate Change” (ALIGNING).
ECOLUTION is a “Partnerships for cooperation” project aiming to develop a new MSc program on “Smart Environmental Sustainability Technologies” in order to meet the increasing demand for advanced, interactive and certified MSc courses related to industrial applications of the rising “Smart Environmental Sustainability” sector. “Smart Environmental Sustainability” are all contexts involving the global advancements in the (Extended) Internet of Things (IoT/XIoT6), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented & Virtual reality (AR/VR), 5G networking, Digital Twin, Robotics & Automation, Autonomous Vehicles and Drones, and their protrusion differs stunningly between scientific disciplines and economic sectors in Europe. Therefore, the ECOLUTION consortium will evaluate the syllabus yearly, even beyond the funding period, and gradually update it with the latest technological developments as they arise from business needs and research outcomes. The consortium consists of partners residing all over Europe in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain and involves four universities, including the coordinator- Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, the International Hellenic University, the Chez University of Life Sciences, and of course, Aarhus University.
Also, many courses are relevant for the new educational program on food systems to be deployed in autumn and the syllabuses can be used directly or as a matrix to tailor our specific needs.
Hybrid (physical-online) kick-off meeting of the ECOLUTION Erasmus+ project on 20-21 March 2024 at the School of Agronomy, University of Coimbra, Portugal.
In the Far East, an Erasmus+ “Capacity Building in Higher Education” project ALIGNING started to promote agricultural innovation in the partner countries by increasing, first, the innovation capacity of Asian universities, and, second, by providing the other stakeholders (industry, policy makers and society) avenues for solutions for a more sustainable and climate-resilient business growth. Climate change through weather variability and extreme weather events is particularly evident in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia and Bangladesh. They both share significant economic and population growth over the past decades, with an increasing need for agribusiness including local contexts and partnerships. ALIGNING will therefore improve the match between the curricula of the universities and the human capital needs of agricultural businesses in a joint effort, through a novel, peer-centered and market relevant curricula in agriculture business challenges and opportunities amid climate change in the Asian context.
Such a challenging task will not be fully solved within the project lifetime of only three years, but the project will definitely initiate strong institutional strategies through the establishment of “innovation clusters”, m in addition to design of methodology for the development of the online training programs relating to climate change and food security, climate adaptation and mitigation in agriculture, agribusiness management, climate finance available, online professional program in the areas of agribusiness management and climate smart agriculture, all of which incorporate blended learning academic courses available in Khmer and Bengali, as well as an active “Community of Practice”. This can be achieved within the project lifetime and strive to ensure fit-for-purpose, i.e., objective, feasible and sustainable curricula.
ALIGNING is coordinated by the University of Heng Samrin Thbongkhmum in Cambodia, and involves the faculties related to agriculture of the National University of Battambang, National University of Management in Cambodia, and Bangladesh Agricultural University and Sylhet Agricultural University in Bangladesh, as well as the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Greece-based research innovation and development company ReadLab.
With ALIGNING we further understand how the climate system affects different stakeholders involved in the agricultural value chains and what scientific implications that could have.
High-level kick-off meeting for the ALIGING project in 23-25 January 2024, Siem Reap, Cambodia with associated gala dinner and traditional dance show