The YOUCooperATE (“Youth Education Cooperation for the Renewal of Agriculture”) project, in which experts from five countries worked together to develop an innovative educational methodology for expanding the knowledge and skills of young people studying agricultural vocational training in the field of food and agriculture cooperation, was completed.
Under the project, the Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI) collaborated in an international partnership with the following institutions to develop training curricula, teaching, and supporting materials, as well as offline and online training modules:
- Romanian Center for European Policies (Romania)
- National Institute for Cooperative Education (Italy)
- Civitas Foundation (Romania)
- National Union of Small Family Farmers and Producers (Bulgaria)
- Farmers ’Parliament (Latvia)
In addition to the above, AKI brought together teachers and students from five agricultural vocational training institutions operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture to implement the project’s domestic activities.
A total of more than 150 students from the above-mentioned schools took part in an introductory course, a multi-module online course, a business planning competition, as well as study trips and an online international workshop to complement the knowledge gained with practical experience. Their last activity was related to the closing event of the project, in the framework of which on 25 and 26 November 2021 in a solemn ceremony, the staff of AKI presented the institute’s award to the students taking part in the business planning competition and the teachers preparing them.
AKI would like to thank the State Secretariat for Vocational Training of the Ministry of Agriculture, the leaders and contributors of the Northern Agricultural Vocational Training Centre and the Alföld Agricultural Vocational Training Centre, and especially the directors of the institutions and the lecturers involved in the implementation. Special thanks to the participating students at the schools for their interest and perseverance.
The results of the project will soon be available on the online interface, the launch of which will be announced in a separate post. We hope that the developed theme will be included in part or in full in the curriculum of agricultural vocational schools, and in the future, it will inspire similar curriculum development projects in agricultural vocational training as well as in other fields of education.
