Progetti di ricerca

Agricultural Practices are responsible for 17-20% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but are also the main driver for biodiversity and habitat degradation and loss. However, farmers remain the real countryside managers with paramount importance in the effort to meet… Leggi tutto the targets for EU Biodiversity Strategy (BDS) 2030 and the EU climate targets for 2050. A farmer has to wade through a large number of policy instruments (conceived in Brussels but interpreted locally), accompanied by often incomprehensive scientific terms not adequately explained to them (e.g. Natura 2000, Carbon Farming), all of which might change from one financing period to the next. TAKE OFF project aims to promote Environmentally Friendly Farming (EFF), in line with major EU policies and initiatives, e.g., EU climate targets, Biodiversity Strategy. In addition to these key policies for sustainable development, TAKE OFF is tailored to the ERASMUS+ Horizontal Priorities for the environment and fight against climate change and stimulating innovative learning and teaching practices. Accordingly, the concrete objectives of the project are: Activity 1) Produce an e-learning course for Environmental Friendly Farming (EFF) Activity 2) Built an online tool for promoting EFF practices. Activity 3) Produce a replicability e-package for education & training activities related to EFF Moreover, to increase the uptake and sustainability of the deliverables, TAKE OFF will interact with the target groups by implementing 2 multiplier events, which aim at piloting the outputs and collect feedback from key stakeholders: Activity 4) Multiplier event 1 (Cyprus) Activity 5) Multiplier event 2 (Italy) The TAKE OFF activities will allow VET providers to build education and training activities related to EFF. The e-learning course (Activity 1) will be developed according to the farmers’ age and IT literacy and contain four modules (Biodiversity Strategy; Climate Change Mitigation/Adaptation; EcoSchemes/Farm to Fork; Financial opportunities and EFF). The material will seek to present in layman terms the key policies for the environment and climate change. In addition, an interactive online tool (Activity 2) will aim to support/train farmers in making informed decisions among plausible practices/approaches for EFF. Finally, a replicability e-package (Activity 3) will concentrate, in the form of a database, additional resources and material required for EFF, proposing appropriate curricula for various cases of VET (e.g., 1-hour introduction to EFF for young farmers; 1-day workshop for policymakers). The further uptake of TAKE OFF outputs will be promoted through two Multiplier events (Activities 4,5) conducted in Cyprus and Italy, respectively. The project will be coordinated by the Open University of Cyprus (OUC) and will have the contribution of the University of Milan Bicocca. Additionally, the project will support the involvement of a “newcomer”, the SME “Sustainability Metrics” (Cyprus).