<< Objectives >>The project has the precise aim of activating an awareness raising process on sustainability in the livestock sector. On the one hand, by training consultants capable of understanding the needs of livestock farms and proposing solutions to problems linked to their sustainability and, on the other, to participate in the identification of a methodology useful for assessing the sustainability (environmental, economic and social) of farms.<< Implementation >>The core of UP-FARMING project is the training provision, that is made of 3 steps. The first is the training delivery, during which trainees will get relevant knowledge on the topic. The second is the Farmers’ Awareness Raising Laboratory, during which trainees will implement a consultacy activity with real case studies, involving local farms. The third step sees the joint development of a strategy to assess and communicate sustainability<< Results >>The project expected result is twofold. First, structuring a training offer for recent graduates/technicians in agricultural sciences to train them as consultants to accompany farms on sustainability paths and improve their employability. Second, a practical implementation of the skills acquired, leading indirectly to the training of more aware farmers, able to communicate the issue of sustainability to their audience.

One of the main difficulties that the European agri-food cooperatives are facing is the lack of involvement and participation of young farmers (men and women) in the management of their own farms and in the day to day activities of the cooperative. The generational shift is not guaranteed because the younger farmers are not aware of the importance of the cooperative structure for the sustainability of their farms. Considering this need, the aim of the project is to get a generational and gender balance in the co-operative agricultural sector through the strengthening of the capacities of young generation of farmers (men and women) in order to ensure the generational shift in their family farms and co-operatives. The goal is to engage young farmers with the values and objectives of the cooperatives. It will empower young farmers to make changes in the cooperatives in terms of innovation and improvement of the cooperative areas of work. The project partnership is formed by 5 organizations coming from 5 different EU Member States. The Coordinator (ICOS) and Partner 3 (SERVICES COOP DE FRANCE) are the national Association and Union of agri-food co-operatives in their countries (Ireland and France), Partner 2 (AGACA) is the Association of agri-food cooperative of Galician region (Spain) and Partner 5 (LLKC)) is the Public Agency of the Ministery of Agriculture for the rural advisory and traning center for co-operatives. They will provide the project with a work-based experience in the cooperatives sector and a strong link with project stakeholders and project beneficiaries. Partner 3 (Changemaker) is a consultancy company and VET provider specialized in ICT and innovative training tool development and consultancy of innovation and change processes management. They will play a pedagogical supervisor role in the development of the training contents and tools. The methodology used to develop the project will be based on cooperative learning, paying special attention to the involvement of participants as active agents of their own learning process. The main foreseen result of the project will be: Innovative shared training contents about Basic Farm Management through joint development available in English, Spanish, French and Latvian. Innovative shared training contents about cooperative culture and values available in English, Spanish, French and Latvian. 1 open-source ICT platform to support learning with interactive management of contents and tools. 6 Cooperative games to work cooperative values supporting previous training contents. 1 Training course for trainers (virtual training), in order to train trainers in the use and implement of the training contents and cooperative games developed. 4 National Pilot Training Sessions with final beneficiaries held in Ireland, Spain, France, Latvia. These will aim to present and test common training contents and methodologies and for testing the cooperative games developed. 3 Seminars of presentation of intellectual products developed in Spain, France and Latvia, in order to disseminate and capitalise project objectives and results. 1 Final Conference held in Ireland through which the final results of the project will be disseminated and capitalise on. 2 Blended mobilities for young farmers and women farmers (learners of partners), in order to directly experience different points of view and different ways about how young farmers and women are getting involved in the agri-food co-operative sector in other countries. Virtual and physical mobilities are foreseen. At the end of the project the following impacts will be achieved: 1) Provide the agri-food cooperative sector, and the associations of cooperatives and VET providers in particular, with new and innovative training contents and tools for fostering knowledge in Basic farm management and Cooperative culture and values among their younger members (women and men). 2) Improve and update pedagogical, methodological and procedural skills and technical knowledge of participating organisations’ trainers, especially of organisations offering VET contents to cooperatives. 3) Update the technological and pedagogical knowledge of trainers in participating organizations about the offer of new innovative training tools and resources available, in order to provide them with the skills and the knowledge required to create, manage and develop Innovative training tools using ICT tools and open-source technology as well as cooperative learning tools. 4) Increase the quality and accessibility of the VET offer in the agri-food cooperative sector.

<< Background >>Municipality of Silivri gives a considerable attention on enhancing women in this suburban area. However, according to the records of the Silivri Chamber of Agriculture in 2020, only 50 (there are many unregistered female farmers) of the 2000 registered farmers are women farmers. This huge gap between female and male farmers shows the urgent necessity of women empowerment in agriculture sector in Silivri. Agricultural Production and Research Center (TURAM), established by Silivri Municipality in 2011, which focuses on women empowerment in agriculture sector, has 255 acres of land for implications, research and trainings for farmers. TURAM conducts trainings to empower women farmers engaged in small-scale agricultural activities in the region, supports women cooperatives, provides machinery and equipment support for the production of value-added products, etc. However, although adult educators in our municipality are well enough in vocational sense, they are unfortunately insufficient in developing cooperatives trainings and other key skills. This is evident from the inadequate activities of women's role in cooperatives in our region and their inability to achieve sustainability.Being a member of agricultural cooperatives needs specific characteristics and basic skills that are missed the cut by female farmers because of the inadequate trainings about the cooperative system. These characteristics and skills can be counted as communication, understanding cooperatives, participation-learning-training (PLT) and digital competence. When there is lack of understanding the procedure of agricultural cooperatives, participation and sustainability decrease because members do not have the knowledge in basic rights, marketing, sales strategy management and organizing planning. If the communication in the cooperatives is not oughtness, members would not work in a harmony and cannot get the sustainability. Since there is no proper learning of these socio-behavioural concepts, learners cannot develop empathy, communication in business ethics, problem solving and critical thinking. Without these skills, they cannot be successful in the understanding cooperatives such as management, marketing and organizing. Importantly, digital transition which is a compulsory skill under the pandemic period as well as personal development is crucial for the agricultural cooperative systems.These trainings are provided at the university level and have no equivalent in adult education neither in Turkey nor in the countries of participating organizations. More active participation of adult educators is needed for women farmers to receive agricultural cooperatives training in a better quality and sustainable manner. In addition, through training and skills development, rural women and adult learners in general can play a much greater role in the development of agricultural value chains and, their cooperatives will contribute to the increases in economic and social value in their regions. The rate of European Parliament stated in previous question proves to needs of urgent intervention and innovative tools for women empowerment in agriculture sector in EU Countries.<< Objectives >>Since the project focus on women empowerment in agricultural cooperatives, the main objectives and expected achievements by implying it as follows,•To increase the agricultural cooperation and digital transformation skills of women farmers•To provide adult educators of the partnership organizations with methodology and tools which will help them to organize better their training courses on cooperatives and enhance their skills on training approach to women coming from rural areas.•To strengthen the capacity of the agricultural woman cooperatives through enhanced cooperation with adult education and providing innovative training•To encourage cooperative farming among woman and to raise of awareness of women entrepreneurship in rural areas.•Resolving the problems in the field of agricultural cooperatives by sharing the know-how and experiences of the participating institutions•Meeting the needs of the target group efficiently with a European perspective•Contribute to the empowerment of women in rural areas, which is a cross-border need•To generate innovative ideas from an international perspective•To provide women farmers with an improved training in agricultural cooperatives at EU level•Increasing the capacity and professionalism of participants at EU / international level•To reach wider audiences in disseminating project results•Contributing to the European Commission and Erasmus + priorities with women empowerment, rural development, sustainability and digital transformation.<< Implementation >>There are key activities for gaining the project objectives. If success is achieved in these activities, the planned results and project targets will be achieved. These activities are as follows,Development of Intellectual Outputs:The most important activities for meeting the needs of the target audience of the project and achieving the project goals are the development of the intellectual outputs. Three intellectual outputs will be developed in accordance with the project objectives as follows,Innovative Methodology for Agricultural Cooperatives Training,The first output in the project is an innovative methodology that contributes to other outputs. Thanks to this output, adult educators will increase the quality of agricultural cooperatives training and train women farmers with more effective methods. The know-how, experience and research of all partners will contribute while developing the output. In this way, the output will contain a comprehensive content from digital transformation to adult education.Training Module for Women Farmers,A training module will contribute to the development of women farmers in agricultural cooperatives and also increase their socioeconomic skills. With this module, women who are trained in agricultural cooperatives will also gain digital and communicative competencies. Thanks to the acquired skills, the goal of sustainability and empowerment of women in agricultural cooperatives will be achieved. As in the first output, all partners will work together and it will be ensured that the prepared module has an innovative and comprehensive content.AgroSis (e-Learning Platform),A platform will be developed for women to gain experience as well as theoretical knowledge and put what they have learned into practice. This platform will contain simulations, implication videos and online classes. All partners will work together to prepare and regularly update the contents, and will conduct developmental research at specific time periods. Thanks to this platform, women's empowerment will not remain in theory and will be put into practice. In addition, not only women farmers, but also adult educators will put their learning into practice through online education, cooperatives and simulations.Transnational Meetings:All partner institutions will take part in these meetings and the outputs will be evaluated in detail. Exchange of ideas and feedback will be made for these evaluations. In this way, the project outputs will be updated according to the feedbacks and they will be of the best quality. In addition, thanks to the transnational meetings, communication between partners will increase and the networks of participating institutions will expand.Multiplier Events:Multiplier events are an important activity for the dissemination of project results and to meet the needs of a wider target audience. Thanks to these events, the project outputs will support agricultural cooperatives training and women's empowerment in agricultural cooperatives both in Turkey and Europe. The project outputs, which offer innovative and modern agricultural cooperative education, will be able to reach policy makers and decision makers through these activities and will be used by many institutions in adult education.LTT Mobility for Adult Educators:Our partner AGACA, which has expertise and experience in the field of agricultural cooperatives, will host trainers training. In this way, adult educators will provide a more efficient education by developing on online education, adult education and new methods of agricultural cooperatives. Therefore, women farmers will be empowered in the field of agricultural cooperatives thanks to a higher quality education.<< Results >>The key goal of the project is to empower women farmers in agricultural cooperatives. To achieve this, the project seeks solutions to improve the profile and competencies of women farmers. In line with this purpose and need, tangible and intangible results will be obtained in the project. The most important tangible results of the project are the following intellectual outputs:- Innovative Methodology for Agricultural Cooperatives Training- Training Module for Women Farmers- AgroSis (e-Platform)In order to strengthen women farmers in agricultural cooperatives and to increase sustainability in these cooperatives, the project provides results for the development of women farmers. Thanks to these results, women farmers will increase their skills in agricultural cooperative with social, digital and managerial competencies. In order to acquire these competencies and achieve the project's purpose, an innovative methodology will be prepared to support adult educators who provide training to women farmers. While preparing this output, all partners will work together to bring the most innovative methods and modern perspectives. Thanks to the methodology to be designed, adult educators will provide female farmers with a content-rich training by transferring their knowledge more easily with effective techniques. Moreover, the LTT activity will also broaden the knowledge and experiences of adult educators to provide high quality agricultural cooperatives training. Training module, another output of the project, will be a comprehensive material for women farmers as a non-formal training. In this way, the competencies of women not only in the field of cooperatives but also in digital, social and administrative areas will increase throughout the training. This training module will be a learning material for female farmers and a teaching material for adult educators. In addition, it will be a learner-centered material thanks to the collaboration of local institutions that have information about the profile of women farmers and foreign institutions that are experts in the field of cooperatives. AgroSis platform will be prepared for adult educators and women farmers to gain experience and development as well as theoretical education. Thanks to the platform, women farmers and adult educators will put their digital skills into practice, gain experience through simulations, adapt to distance education and access auxiliary materials. With tangible results, obstacles to empower women farmers living in rural areas will be overcome by providing quality education and increasing competencies for success.The intangible results expected within the project are as follows:-The main target group of the project is women farmers living in rural areas. Thanks to the project, women farmers will have access to a better-quality education and will gain important skills. Thanks to these skills and effective training, female farmers will have economic power and will also be empowered in society.-Adult educators involved in the project will be more qualified than their colleagues in agricultural cooperative education and will expand the EU colleague network thanks to the transnational partnership.-The outputs of the project will be used by institutions such as public education centers, vocational training centers, associations, NGOs and will be delivered to adults who want to receive training in the field of agricultural cooperatives.-Thanks to the project, the networks of participating institutions and their recognition in Europe will increase.-With partnership, the outputs will be prepared with an advanced perspective and they will be used not only at local level but also national and international level.

"Agri-food cooperatives in Europe are currently facing the fundamental challenge of promoting the Corporate Culture among the members of their Board of Directors and increasing their knowledge, abilities and skills about Business Administration and Management, in order to ensure a suitable decision-making process in their entities and adapt them to the strategic changes required by the market. Also, there is a need to incorporate women to the Board of Directors in cooperative companies, and promote the generational replacement, through the assumption of responsibilities by younger members.Work experience with cooperatives highlights the need to update and strengthen the Training of the Trainers, in order to increase their pedagogical, methodological and procedural skills, and their technical knowledge, adapting them to the new market scenarios produced by the near situation of economic crisis in Europe, and to the new demand coming from the training final beneficiaries and to their levels of knowledge.ToTCOOP+i project aims to address the above-mentioned needs, by improving the quality of VET offer in the European cooperative sector. It has two general objectives: 1) Increase the quality of VET offer for members of cooperatives at European level, in order to address the sector needs. 2) Strengthen the capacities of the members of Board of Directors in the field of Business Administration, Management and Corporate Culture, promoting, at the same time, the access of women and young people to charges of responsibility. Also, it has one specific objective: Strengthen and update the pedagogical, methodological and procedural skills, as well as the technical knowledge of trainers of Associations of agri-food cooperatives and organisations that offer training and consulting services to them.According with the recommendations contains in the EC’s study ""Support for Farmers’ Cooperatives"", these objectives will be achieved through two main actions: 1) exchange of experiences and best-practices between the Countries involved in the project; 2) development of common innovative training contents and tools, on the base of the best-practices identified at European level.The main project outcomes are: a Best-Practices Report on VET actions implemented in EU for the promotion of Business Administration, Management and Corporate culture among the members of Board of Directors in the agri-food cooperatives; a Methological Guidelines for the development of common training contents; Common Training Contents about Business Administration, Management and Corporate culture in agri-food cooperatives, that will be available in English, Spanish, Italian, Sweden, Polish and Latvian; an high-quality ICT open-source learning platform, for the interactive and shared use of the training contents.The project innovation consists in the development at European level of common training contents, through the exchange of experiences and best-practices existing at regional and national level. Also, ToTCOOP+i aims to provide the trainers of the European organisations involved in the project, the latest trends updated about Business Administration, Management and Corporate Culture, and the skills and knowledge necessary to manage and develop Innovative training tools created using ICT tools and open technology to create and develop training support tools.For that purpose, the project put together six organizations coming from six different EU Member States: 2 from Souhtern Europe (Spain and Italy), two from Eastern Europe (Poland and Latvia) and two from Northern Europe (Ireland and Sweden). The partnership joins leading VET providers (Aris, Changemaker), associations of cooperatives (AGACA, ICOS and SNRSS) and organizations providing consultancy and advisory services to cooperatives (LLKC).In the short-term, ToTCOOP+i provides agri-food cooperative sector with new and innovative training contents and contribute to increase the quality and accessibility of VET offer in that sector. In the mid and long-term, the project help to boost Business Administration and management skills of Boards of Directors and promote entrepreneurship. By this way, it also contribute to increase the employability in the cooperative sector and reduce the effects produced by the economic crisis.The project final beneficiaries are: 1) managers and trainers of the participating organizations; 2) associations of rural cooperatives, VET organizations and institutions, public entities at local/regional/national level, young professionals working in cooperative sector; 3) members of small and medium agri-food coperatives’ Boards of Directors and new entrepreneurs in cooperative sector."

ToTCOOP+i TECH project proposed to respond to the following challenges of the agri-food co-operatives in Europe: - need of promoting the Corporate Culture among the members of their Board of Directors and,- need of increasing their knowledge, abilities and skills about Business Administration and Management, in order to ensure a suitable decision-making process in their entities and adapt them to the strategic changes required by the market. - need to incorporate women to the Board of Directors in co-operative companies, and promote the generational replacement, through the assumption of responsibilities by younger members.In order to help the co-operatives facing these challenges, the project sets the following objectives: 1. Transforming the current offer of Continuing Vocational Training in the co-operative sector at EU level into an excellent training, based on the use of technology and in the new models of the digital era and, 2. Strengthening the capacities of Business Administration of the Board of Directors Members from agri-food cooperatives, through their direct involvement in the training process. The project partnership was formed by 7 organizations coming from 6 different EU Member States. Coordinator (ICOS) and Partners 2 (AGACA), 4 (Association for Social Cooperatives), 5 (Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre) and 7 (MedAtlantia) are associations of co-operatives and providers of consultancy and advisory services to cooperatives. They have provided to the project a work-based experience in the co-operatives sector and a strong link with project stakeholders and project beneficiaries. Also, they have contributed with their specific knowledge about the agri-food co-operative sector to the content for the technological tools that have been developed.Partner 3 (Changemaker) is a consultancy company and VET provider, specialized in change and organizational development and learning processes as well as digital service development, games and visualisation on a national and international level. CM have had the role of pedagogical supervisor of the project. Partner 6 (GRIFO multimedia) with partner 7 (Medatlantia) are newcomer to the previous partnership. P6 (GRIFO) It’s an Italian SME that operates in the field of e-learning, knowledge and content management, integrating technologies, contents and services in customized solutions built around the entities’ specific needs. Partner 7 (MedAtlantia) is a worker co-operative specialized in designing and developing green and circular economy projects for entities belonging to the social economy (worker co-ops, agri-food co-ops, social co-ops, Associations of co-ops, Public and Private Foundations) in the rural areas. Also, it provides VET services such as Coordination and Mgt. of Public Administration Training Plans, and training offer in Mgt. of Cooperative companies. Apart from the coordination and dissemination, the following activities were developed in the project: - Observatory of Learning Innovation and technological opportunities for training- Transformation of training content into innovative tools - Short-term joint staff training event - Implementation of national pilot training sessions The main results achieved are: 1 Infographic Handbook of innovative technological resources for training (10 digital learning tools included) 1 Handbook of Best Practices in Learning Innovation 10 Video materials for training purposes 1 Serious game, with 50 boxes of knowledge activities (5 for Didactic Unit) (digital version) 1 Didactic App for smartphone 10 Gamification tools for training assessment 1 Final Conference held in Ireland in order to disseminate and capitalize project final results 4 Pilot training sessions with Final Beneficiaries, for testing the use of the digital innovative learning tools developed, in Ireland, Spain, Poland and Latvia 1 Short-term joint staff training event (in Spain) and assessment reportRegarding the ToTCOOP+i TECH, impact we can highlight the following achievements:- Availability of common training contents on Business Administration, Mgt. & Corporate culture for members of Board of Director of agri-foods co-operatives, taught throw the use of technological tools based on digital solutions.- Exchange of experiences and identification of best-practices for innovative learning.- Increased awareness about the importance to involve younger generations (men and women) trough technological tools at European level to guarantee a generational shift in the sector.The project sustainability is ensured by the inclusion of the TOTCOOP+i TECH training results in the VET offers provided by the different project partners to members of Board of Directors of agri-food co-operatives, rural and social co-operatives and members of co-operatives. Partners firmly agreed to participate until June 2024 in an Impact study, setting several specific measures to assess the long-term impact of the project.