<< Objectives >>The AGERECO project seeks more effective climate action and better protection of the environment and biodiversity by the agricultural sector, thus reducing the greenhouse emissions. Moreover, the project aims at giving to micro and small enterprises the skills necessary to economically implement this transition and to improve their economic conditions.<< Implementation >>The project foresees a series of training sessions for micro and small enterprises in the agricultural sector to enhance their knowledge on sustainable agriculture through an educational program divided in micro-credentials. The project also entails the implementation of training sessions aimed at educating the MSEs in economic sustainability which will give to micro and small enterprises the skills necessary to economically implement the sustainable transition toward a sustainable agriculture.<< Results >>The impact of the project will be to contribute to an increase in agricultural land used in a sustainable way by MSEs operating in the sector and to empower them economically. The organizations involved will benefit from each other from the cooperation within the project through an internationalization of their work and an exchange of best practices in the field of education and training.

"<< Background >>The ubiquity of digital technologies is transforming agriculture and food production. Specifically, in the agricultural sector, the deployment of mobile technologies, remote sensing services and distributed computing are already improving small holders' access to information, inputs and markets, increasing production and productivity, streamlining supply chains, and reducing operating costs and environmental impact. But it is not just farmers. Consumers, both at home and abroad, are becoming more informed about the products they buy. They require high-quality food and fiber and produce in a sustainable way and want to know more about where the products come from. Digital technologies enable better traceability of agricultural products, providing peace of mind for consumers and greater value for farmers. Therefore, farmers need to develop a new set of skills in different fields of application. In order to address this macro-need, the Digital Farmer project, through European funding and an international multi-stakeholder cooperation between training institutions, research, universities, industrial consulting and territorial promotion companies, intends to develop a project aimed at producing teaching materials and innovative work-based learning methodologies, platforms for awareness raising and exchange of good practices and a general qualification of European VET systems related to agriculture, The ""Digital Education Action Plan"" is based on the assumption that it has become indispensable for the European population to possess digital skills appropriate to our times. The educational system consequently needs a process of adaptation in this direction, which has been made even more urgent by the Covid-19 pandemic. A fundamental aspect is the strengthening of the skills of educators and trainers, starting from the recognition of a common problem in Europe, which is the frequent lack of preparation of educators and trainers in general, not yet accustomed to the use of digital technologies in teaching and the use of forms of distance learning, especially in VET. At the same time, the agriculture sector is one of the most important areas of challenge for the achievement of several of the European Union's development objectives. The sector faces the need for a) Promoting an intelligent, resilient and diversified agricultural sector that ensures food security; b) Strengthening environmental protection and climate action; c) Strengthening the social fabric d) Promoting and sharing knowledge, innovation and digitization in agriculture and rural areas; in summary, through the European Commission's December 18, 2020 recommendation, the solution to many of the aforementioned challenges lies in a ""smarter,"" more precise and sustainable agriculture built on innovation and digital tools in agriculture. To achieve this goal, it is necessary that all stakeholders of the agricultural system are involved in a process of empowerment and awareness to approach the objectives outlined in the CAP, the European Green Deal and the From Farm to Fork strategy. This system action was precisely the logic behind the development of the Digital Farmer project, which is aimed at all European stakeholders in the agricultural sector, with particular focus on educators and trainers through a train-the-trainer approach, aimed at generating a multiplier effect in different European contexts.<< Objectives >>The innovation of the VET System cannot disregard digitalization, and in fact the Digital Education Action Plan starts from the assumption that it has become essential for the European population to possess digital skills appropriate to our times. One of the key points of the DEAP is the strengthening of the skills of educators and trainers, starting from the recognition of a common problem in Europe that is the frequent lack of preparation of a teaching staff and educators and trainers in general not yet accustomed to the use of digital technologies in teaching and the use of forms of distance learning, especially in VET.Innovation cannot ignore the importance of the environment and the fight against climate change, to which Europe has paid close attention with its accession to the Paris Agreement and the recent European Green Deal, which in its strategy aims to invest in environmentally friendly technologies and support industry in innovation. Digital farmers intend to apply these priorities to a sector such as agriculture, one of the most important challenging areas for achieving the different development objectives of the European Union, which in the Recovery Plan focuses on modernizing traditional policies such as cohesion and the common agricultural policy, in order to maximize their contribution to EU priorities. Among the challenges to be faced are the promotion of an intelligent, resilient and diverse agricultural sector that ensures food security by strengthening environmental protection and climate action, the socio-economic fabric of rural areas and responding to social concerns. It is also necessary to promote and share knowledge, innovation and digitalization in agriculture and rural areas. Through the Recommendation of the European Commission of December 18, 2020, the solution to many of the challenges mentioned consists in a more ""intelligent"", precise and sustainable agriculture built on innovation and digital tools in agriculture. With this project we intend to develop teaching materials and innovative methodologies of work-based learning, platforms for raising awareness and exchange of good practices and a general qualification of European VET systems related to agriculture, to achieve a change of system capable of having a concrete impact on the achievement of greater environmental and economic sustainability of the agricultural sector and the renewal , greater attractiveness and effectiveness of the European VET system The project, through a train-the-trainer approach and innovative training activities, aims to contribute to the transformation of VET institutions to better include in their programmes digital innovations in the agricultural sector with a dual action on trainers and students, creating an international and multisectoral network to achieve together a set of objectives:- Standardize and improve digital skills to be used in the pedagogical field of educators , and VET trainers at European level in the field of agriculture - Enhance the use within VET educational paths of recent innovations and new technologies in the agricultural sector - Ensuring continuity, while innovating, work-based learning in an international environment through the Erasmus programme - Promoting the adoption of innovative practices related to digital agriculture in individual local contexts with positive effects in terms of environmental sustainability in the companies and organizations involved - Improving the skills of participating organizations in digital agriculture and teaching skills through transnational cooperation<< Implementation >>The project includes the following tasks: WP1. Coordination and monitoring: Partners will adopt common implementation and monitoring methodologies, so as to work consistently on deadlines, objectives and indicators. During the transnational meetings partners will also organize and develop the dissemination activities of the project and develop further ideas, follow-up strategies and stakeholder involvement. WP2 Local Roundtables (M2-M6): Each partner will activate their network to activate an ""innovative ecosystem"" related to digital tools and recent innovations in the agricultural sector. Through roundtables, individual partners will collect best practices and the latest innovations applied in their local context in relation to the agricultural sector and digital education. The results will be summarized in final reports that will be the basis of the content to be developed. WP3 International Workshop (M7-M12): Before the start of the Workshop, local reports will be forwarded by the different partners to the coordinating body of this activity Cosvitec, which will summarize the material received in two final reports that will be discussed during the WI: the first will be the basis of the drafting of the Manuals Digital VET Trainer in Agriculture (O1, O2). The second will serve for the emergence of good practices and innovative systems at local level, but also to identify potential fields of application of WP4 Training International digital internships (M13-M18): IT will take place in asynchronous and synchronous mode.At least 4 weeks before the start of training, the first version of the manuals (O1, O2) will be forwarded to the participants. The part in presence, lasting 5 days, will be divided into two phases. The first will deal with the topics already addressed in asynchronous mode, while the second will deal with the techniques and methods of implementation of wp5 digital internships Digital internships and elaboration of the Digital VET Trainer in Agriculture (M19-M27): internships abroad in digital form are one of the innovative project actions and their implementation will ensure continuity of work-based learning within the Erasmus+ programme, which has achieved extremely positive results over the years. In addition, the elaboration of the manuals will serve to facilitate the replication of this experience even to bodies that have not directly benefited from the WP6 Project Activities MO6 Production MOOC Digital VET Trainer in Agriculture (O3) (M1-M28) will be built around the first 2 project outputs and aimed at transmitting the basic skills for effective distance learning and increasing skills related to the 6 macro-arguments of innovation in agriculture and on the methodologies and techniques of carrying out digital internships WP7 Network of Digital Farmers (O4) Platform Development (M1-M30): The platform will be a tool of fundamental importance for all project objectives. In fact, the platform will enable empowerment actions of stakeholders active in the field of VET, the exchange of best practices and innovative methodologies, will positively influence the aspects related to dissemination and will offer networking opportunities that can trigger future projects and further developments WP8 Dissemination and Networking Activities Dissemination and networking activities: The promotion of activities and dissemination of results are an element of fundamental importance to ensure the success of the project.fundamental importance to ensure the success of the project and to generate a multiplier effect both in the territorial contexts of the territorial contexts of the project partners and at community level. To this end, a dissemination event will be organized dissemination by country. The materials produced and the results achieved will thus have a further opportunity for dissemination as well as the opportunity to promote further follow-up projects initiated by partners and stakeholders.<< Results >>Digital Farmer is an ambitious project that aims to make a concrete contribution to achieving the following outcomes:- Qualification of digital skills to be used in the pedagogical field of VET educators and trainers at European level in the field of agriculture;- Introduction and greater use within the educational paths of recent innovations and new technologies in the agricultural sector; - Development of a new methodology for the realization of forms of work-based learning through digital tools- A greater awareness, in different local contexts, of innovative practices and digital agriculture with positive effects in terms of environmental sustainability in the companies and organizations involved; - Empowerment of organizations involved in digital agriculture and educational skills through transnational cooperation. To achieve the aforementioned general outcomes through the achievement of the following specific results: - Production of teaching materials related to ICT tools in teaching: within the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators, the partnership will deal with the production of Open Educational Resources in the 6 key areas identified: 1. Professional Engagement, 2. Digital Resources, 3. Teaching and Learning 4. Assessment, 5. Empowering Learners, 6. Facilitating Learners' Digital Competence - Production of teaching materials and information documents in relation to the 6 in-depth areas identified in the design field (Decision Support Systems, Block Chain Technologies, ICT Information and Communication Technologies, NIR and Drones, Farmbot, e-Commerce Software, Marketing and Advertising Platforms) and guidelines related to the conduct of ""digital internships"" for the elaboration of the Digital Traineeship manual in Agriculture. - Empowerment of 21 trainers and educators from 7 Member States and their organizations: progress will be assessed through ex-ante/ex-post evaluation questionnaires, DigCompEdu Check-In for participants and SELFIE for their organizations; - Design and implementation of 84 ""Digital Internships"": through the joint action of the members of the partnership, the participants in the International Training and the host companies/bodies themselves, learning paths based on innovative practices in agriculture will be structured. The route will be characterized by a first week in presence and the next continuation for a further 4 weeks at a distance, through digital tools - Creation of the Network of Digital Farmers: a platform will be developed for: a) dissemination of European policies and recommendations on distance learning and digital skills; b) provide a tool to improve the digital skills of educators, trainers and facilitators through the dissemination of OER related to digital tools in agriculture (produced in the design and non-design field) and European best practices and tools available c) provide a space for comparison for educators, trainers and facilitators with an international section in English and a specification in which stakeholders can compare themselves in their mother tongue; d) matching between companies and trainees/training institutions for subsequent implementation of ""digital internships"""