"<< 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"""

<< Objectives >>TRANSFoodMERS is an effort to increase awareness, knowledge, skills, & competences of youth, by involving youths in Game-based learning (GBL) processes & methodologies (Outdoor Game, Online Serious Game, Boardgame) offered by youth workers to empower them to tackle climate change, minding a great focus on sustainable food consumption & production. GBL provides increased motivation, raised interest in specific topics, multiple representations, and an open-ended approach of own learning process.<< Implementation >>A Field Research and e-book measuring youth and youth workers attitudes and knowledge level An Outdoor Games Guide to promote Sustainable Food Consumption & ProductionA Board Game on Sustainable Food Consumption & ProductionA Digital/Serious Game on Sustainable Food Consumption & ProductionA Youth Workers Training on TRANSFoodMERS GBL ResourcesA Youth Training with TRANSFoodMERS GBL ResourcesDissemination and Communication activitiesEvaluation and Impact measuring activities<< Results >>The project's outcomes are extremely related to the activities as the main objective of the project is to combine multiplier benefits: The main outcome is to provide the EU with a package of tools, using GBL to empower young people, aware of environmental threats such as food consumption and production and train them about green deal practices for energy efficiency maximization and emission minimization and to exchange skills and knowledge extend their network and find employment opportunities.

<< Objectives >>Thanks to this project, VET students and staff will have a chance to compare real conditions for farming and the implementation of new agriculture technologies.To summarize, it’ll be achieved:1-To increase the knowledge of the students, trainers and experts in the partner institutions about Agriculture 4.0 and to enable them to see the good practices2-To train qualified agricultural workers that the labor market needs3-To increase the capacity of institutions on Agriculture 4.0<< Implementation >>There are 3 different activities in the project. The first of these activities is project meetings. 2 transnational project meetings will be held to ensure better coordination throughout the project period. The other type of activity is the trainings for VET students, which will last for one week in 2 different countries. The last activities of the project will be trainings for teachers/trainers/experts working in partner institutions.<< Results >>The activities of the project are designed to meet the needs of partner institutions. In this context, as a result of the training activities to be carried out within the scope of the project, the needs of the partner institutions in this field will be met. Staff working in partner institutions will learn and experience current approaches on Agriculture 4.0. In the educational activities to be carried out for the students, studies will be carried out for this target group.

The rapid shift to remote teaching and learning necessitated by the global COVID19 pandemic exposed areas of significant need in VET schools, especially in those who are targeting students with disabilities and fewer opportunities. It has underscored previously unknown or poorly understood gaps in equity, access, tools, and infrastructure but as well in the VET educators of this underrepresented group. VET educators had to accelerate technology implementation plans and their own professional development to move their teaching online, while simultaneously building educators and students capacity to use technology. Keeping an eye on issues of equity in remote learning environments can seem overwhelming, particularly when moving teaching and learning from the classroom to an online platform, mostly for VET students with disabilities. During this time of transition, ensuring equity for students with disabilities involves ensuring that all digital materials & platforms are accessible & work with the assistive technology tools available to students. The areas of education and training where students with disabilities can thrive differ significantly from those of mainstream students. SOIL project is focusing on a training area that has been proven beneficial for students’ skills and competences development and at the same develops a digital suite of educational tools that will ease VET educators’ job, as well keep students engaged. SOIL is seeking to prevent social exclusion of VET students with disabilities from COVID19 outbreak. It has been proven that gardening & therapeutic horticulture are practices that help the inclusion of marginalised groups. Creating and maintaining flower and vegetable gardens has long been recognized as being therapeutic and is now being widely embraced as a tool to help students with special needs develop skills necessary to enjoy all of the positive paybacks that come with being in nature. It provides a source of exercise, friendship, stimulation & relaxation and moreover it helps to the development of diverse skills. SOIL target groups are: VET students with disabilities & fewer opportunities who are enrolled in a VET schools’ curriculum. We focus on this target group of VET students with disabilities are undoubtedly among the most vulnerable at risk of educational exclusion during COVID19 outbreak. There is a great need for them to continue their VET education as this is the channel through which they achieve personal development & participation into the community; VET trainers & educators who have found themselves amid a significant need to transfer their teaching curriculum on line with the use of digital tools which have to correspond to the augmented needs of their students with disabilities. The online learning environments require them to demonstrate high quality digital delivery skills &confidence in using web conferencing solutions.Unfortunately, not all students have equal skills, resources or opportunities to participate in distance and e-learning. This global crisis has amplified and reinforced the digital, social, emotional, cultural and economic inequalities that many VET students and their families were already facing. A major challenge is the continuation of the work-based component of the VET programmes during lockdown. While theory can usually be taught and learned online, practical aspects cannot be effectively delivered, e.g. due to lack of access to tools, materials and equipment. To this direction we are planning to develop groundbreaking digital training tools in order to facilitate the continuation of practical training of VET students; SOIL project foresees the implementation of 3 Intellectual Outputs, as following: IO1 Digital Learning Suite for Bio Gardening and Therapeutic Horticulture: a suite of video tutorials of training and learning resources for bio gardening and therapeutic horticulture, media reached to qualify the needs of VET Students with fewer opportunities (disability)IO2 Bio Gardening and Therapeutic Horticulture Digital Lab; a web portal with the typology of a lab class where VET trainers can apply IO1 resources to VET Students IO3 SOIL - The Social Gardening AR APP: an Augmented Reality up that can be used by VET students to identify plants, vegetables and trees and with the guidance of their VET trainers on line to practice of garden cultivation and management. IO3 will have the options to connect with other users in SOIL teams and work together under the supervision and guidance of a VET trainer.SOIL partners are INSTITOUTO PROOTHISIS KAI PISTOPOIISIS PROIONTON AGRODIATROFIS, ERGASTIRI EIDIKIS EPAGGELMATIKIS EKPAIDEFSIS KAI KATARTISIS and INSTITOYTO KOINONIKIS KAINOTOMIAS KAI SYNOXIS from Greece, ROMAGNA TECH SOCIETA CONSORTILE PER AZIONI from Italy, FUNDACIÓN BELARMINO FERNANDEZ IGLESIAS from Spain and SECONDARY MUNICIPAL SCHOOL KOCO RACIN C.O. SVETI NIKOLE from RNM.

<< Objectives >>HydroVET project aims to develop a Vocational Education and Training program that responds to green skills and create opportunities for integration into labor market as well as build a network to exchange good practices by addressing modern training needs according to EU priorities regarding economic growth decoupled from resource use. HydroVET will contribute to improve educational outcomes and relevant skills in the European region, focusing on employability, entrepreneurship and innovation.<< Implementation >>In the context of Hydro VET, taking into consideration the fields of expertise and added value of each partner in the consortium, will be implemented activities such as (1) best practices, applied initiatives, and policies analysis on the field; (2) exploration of existing VET training, courses and job opportunities in vertical hydroponic farming; (3) target group’s needs-identification; (4) working group’s meeting; (5) development of the HydroVET curricula and its e-platform; (6) policy briefs<< Results >>HydroVet results include the development of VET curricula and e-platform. At the local level, the project will create opportunities for labour market integration and establish the conditions for human capital capacity development for agriculture workers and entrepreneurs. At a European level, the project will foster a greater propensity to approach hydroponic farming, accelerating transition to this future-oriented type of farming and leading to improvements and emergence of new approaches.