Sector: Higher education / Adult (cross –sectoral)
Unibo structure involved: Dipartimento di Scienze agrarie (DipSA)
Unibo Team: Dott. Francesco Orsini, Dott.ssa Mariangela Canè
Website: www.urbangreentrain.eu/
Project Duration in month: 36
Start Date: 09/2015
End Date: 08/2017
Budget: 447.684 euro
Unibo Budget: 100.598 euro
Coordinator: Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna (Italia)
Partners:
- Agreenium (Francia)
- Vegepolys (Francia)
- South-Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, Department of Agriculture, Soest (Germania)
- hei-tro GmbH (Germania)
- HORTICITY srl (Italia)
- STEPS srl (Italia)
- Mammut Film srl (Italia)
- Grow the Planet (Italia)
- RUAF Foundation (Paesi Bassi)
Description
The project URBAN GReen Education for ENTteRprising Agricultural INnovation (URBAN GREEN TRAIN) will create an innovative training path in the field of Urban Agriculture (UA) entrepreneurship.
The project consortium includes excellence Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), innovative SMEs and NGOs of high level expertise on different and complementary fields: UA, education, dissemination, innovation in HE and University-Society- Business-Cooperation (USBC), with partners from France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
The project, that will last 36 months, will create a model of training curriculum on 5 key areas affected by UA:
- Food and non-food production of UA;
- Ecology, environment, resource management;
- Resilience, social inclusion and sustainability;
- Entrepreneurship, innovative business models and modes of financing;
- Societal needs, market analysis and value chain development.
These macro areas have been provisionally identified during the proposal preparatory phase and will be re-designed according to the results of the initial project phase (leading to the development of Output 1-New urban agriculture initiatives toward a mindset change).
Within this phase, partners will undertake a survey aimed at identifying new entrepreneurial models, training opportunities and needs, as to update the state of art of UA entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education, also carrying out a comparative analysis of the results as to have a picture of what is going on in Europe on UA.
As result of this work two inventories will be created and made available on line, respectively of business and training opportunities in UA, with a focus on identifying existing modules and resources to be further adapted and developed to respond to the target groups needs, and those missing to be developed ex – novo.
The training path (Output 2 - URBAN GREEN TRAIN educational modules and resources) will be composed by a set of 5 modules, each composed by 30 h structured in 14 h at distance courses + 16 hrs in presence (8 h frontal + 8 h practical). This will result in a training offer of 150 h (70 h as e-learning, 80 h as two-weeks intensive course).
The full set of modules will be tested in a joint international demonstrative blended course, that will involve 60 participants from partner countries representing HEIs, SMEs staff and Public Authorities (PA).
The part of the course to be realized in presence will be implemented through a blended mobility action in Bologna (IT) aimed at strengthening knowledge and methodological exchanges.
After testing the course, the curriculum will be improved and standardized according to partner HEI regulations and included in already existing BSc and MSc degree courses (Output 3 - Model and recommendations for an urban agriculture entrepreneurship curriculum). The model of curriculum will be accompanied by a set of policy recommendations for the validation and recognition of competences with reference to the European Credits Transfer System (ECTS) and the European Qualification Framework (EQF).
Cooperation between HEIs, SMEs, NGOs and PA will be the basis for the development of improved and new SMEs covering the whole agriculture set of services (food system, urban planning, natural resources management, ecosystem and social services provisioning, etc.) in the urban environment.
The project will adopt a participatory approach with active involvement of stakeholders in the different project phases.
Furthermore, by creating and validating in the test blended course a set of collaborative modules, URBAN GREEN TRAIN will serve as an example of transnational USBC that may be adapted to any other course subject, providing long-term sustainability of the project outcomes.
URBAN GREEN TRAIN dissemination will raise awareness on UA across Europe, opening the path for innovative and sustainable cities.
Dissemination will be ensured by a dedicated website and use of social networks, a promotional video, and an eNewsletter to be distributed every three months in partner countries and all over Europe.
Furthermore, a strong link with relevant scientific societies (International Society for Horticultural Sciences and more specifically the commissions on Landscape and Urban Horticulture – LUH – and on Education, Consultancy, Research and Training -ECRT) and international programmes on UA (FAO-Food for the Cities) will enable long-term sustainability and accessibility of project outputs.
Within the projects, three national events will be realized in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and a final international conference in France, where a EU CLUSTER on Urban Agriculture will be launched.
The EU CLUSTER will involve all partner organizations from the project and further members from partner countries and other EU countries, representing different key actors and stakeholders in UA: HEIs, SMEs, NGOs, PA, etc. promoting knowledge and innovation exchange on different aspects of UA.