How does the project address the selected priorities?
Our project addresses the lack of adult vocational training (level 3) and certification in the agroforestry sector in France, and also in Europe. We aim to address this issue by creating a career profile recognized by all partner countries, with skills that can be acquired through various learning modalities. We will focus on the following two major objectives:
- Green career focus: The career profile includes the theme "Teaching to produce differently, for transitions and agroecology" around living soils, biodiversity, resource quality (water, etc.), and climatology.
- Continuing education: Skills can be acquired progressively in accordance with the lifelong learning process.
- Inclusiveness: The career profile will be designed to be accessible to as many people as possible.
To meet this challenge, we envision a highly complementary partnership composed of agroforestry practitioners, didactics specialists, educational engineers, inclusion stakeholders, and agricultural organization specialists, in order to achieve high-quality results. We will produce an inclusive Level 3 career profile specializing in agroforestry based on performance descriptors, the implementation of training programs, specialized modules, positioning and validation tools, and a certification framework to promote pathways to success around the aforementioned themes.
We will test the feasibility and effectiveness of the intellectual products through mobility and pathways before transferring them to partner countries and more generally through our European networks.
What are our motivations ?
Today, all types of agriculture, regardless of their location in the world, are suffering from the effects of climate change. This situation is affecting our society, and we want to take a strong hand in this issue, which is close to our hearts. As a national education institution that has implemented a strategy to teach alternative production, we wish to share not only the knowledge we have acquired on the subject of agroforestry and sustainable agriculture in our own cultures, but also that acquired by our partners, who have their own particularities and cultures.
This project will allow us to create a new framework on sustainable agroforestry, adaptable to all partner countries and inclusive for all. The aim would be to promote sustainable, profitable, and reasoned agricultural practices: preserving soil health and our natural resources, increasing biodiversity, etc. The skills acquired by learners can be acquired through various learning methods (e.g., online learning, AFEST, in-person) while maintaining equality in assessment and those at the European level.
As this project is cross-disciplinary and international, we will rely on the mobility of our partners' staff and learners. When creating the framework, we will be able to develop a career profile based on performance descriptors, the implementation of training programs, specialized modules, and positioning and validation tools to promote success paths around the aforementioned themes.
The establishment of our partnership aims to be highly complementary and is essential in terms of dissemination and deployment of the method and the results produced through their territorial implementation, their national and European involvement in a context of sustainable and profitable agricultural development.
What are the concrete results aimed?
Our ultimate goal is the creation of a new inclusive green career profile in the field of vegetable and fruit production and agroforestry, with European recognition for level 3 adults. To achieve this result, we will implement key milestones.
1. Basic framework: Create the training framework so that it is adaptable to all agroforestry contexts in Europe.
2. The proposed professional framework will be open to all operator tasks (level 3). The project will enable the continued development of a European portfolio of agroforestry skills, capitalizing on the learning outcomes validated by learners. Its added value will be recognition by certification authorities in the agricultural sectors of partner countries. The project's unique feature will be the inclusion of agroforestry techniques and sustainable and rational practices.
3. The project plans to capitalize on strong skills and allows for the accumulation and diversification of skills to ensure participants' social and professional advancement. It will be a mobility tool across participating countries in the agricultural sector. As such, it is a project focused on two areas: issues related to qualification/certification and the mobility of professionals, particularly those with specific needs.
4. We have formed a partnership based on the complementary skills that will bring this ambitious project to fruition. Indeed, our partnership is comprised of diverse backgrounds: educational engineers, agroforestry practitioners outside France, and knowledge of agricultural training for adults with specific needs. This partnership is a win-win ecosystem.
Our project creates sustainable positions using an attractive method for vulnerable groups, who are generally resistant to traditional apprenticeships and who often find employment unstable or sometimes discriminatory. We offer innovative apprenticeship methods that will make it easier for certain groups to adhere to. We envision this process creating numerous jobs and providing a foundation for professionalization and sustainability for local projects.
How does this project complement other initiatives already carried out by the participating organizations?
As a reminder, the choice of partners is based on complementarity, as it includes institutions based in France, Slovenia, Austria, Spain, and Mayotte, with agroforestry practitioners, specialists in didactics, educational design, inclusion stakeholders, and specialists in agricultural organizations. Furthermore, they all have a history of Erasmus KA1 and/or KA2 projects on themes similar to ours, demonstrating a shared interest.
Our project complements the participating organizations in several ways.
1. The creation of a career profile on the subject of agroforestry
The EPL Lycée professionnel agricole de Coconi in Mayotte is a leader on the subject of agroforestry due to their knowledge and practice demonstrated in their "Jardin Mahorais" project. Since their climate and agriculture are different from ours, we will provide a neutral basis for agroforestry practice when creating the standard. This will allow us to create training and certification recognized throughout Europe and therefore usable by all our partners.
2. The theme "Teaching to produce differently, for transitions and agroecology"
All partners are aware of the effects of climate change on agriculture and its impact on our society and economy. Their actions and projects demonstrate their commitment to training learners on the theme of sustainable and profitable agriculture. Our project will provide inclusive training with innovative pedagogy.
3. Inclusive and Specific Needs
The Olivera cooperative and the Solivers cooperative focus on adult education with specific needs in the viticulture, oenology, and olive growing sectors. Furthermore, LFS Langenlois has access to the latest innovative teaching methods thanks to its connection with the University of Vienna. We will base the project on the same learning method but in a different agricultural sector.
Our partnership is thus strengthened thanks to our shared interests and is beneficial to all.
How does your proposal create synergies between the different sectors of education, training, youth, and sports? Does it have a significant potential impact on one or more of these sectors?
Our proposal will create synergies between the education and training sectors in the agroforestry sector.
The training we will create will be based on a new professional framework. The impact we aim to have is on the choice of training type (distance learning, AFEST, in-person), the possibility of mobility within Europe to broaden learners' horizons, and to educate learners on soft skills and hard skills. There will also be a strong focus during the creation of the training on ensuring it is inclusive for all. This last point will have a significant impact on job creation and secure permanent positions for learners.
How does the proposal bring added value at the European level through results that could not be achieved through activities carried out at the national level?
The training and certification we want to create not only does not exist in France, but the practice of agroforestry at the national level remains superficial compared to neighboring countries. Our approach will enable us to gather knowledge on agroforestry practice from our European partners in order to create a basis for the framework. Then, to implement the training, we will gather knowledge on pedagogy from our partners in Alsace, Spain, and Austria to make the training accessible to all.
