Transferring Methods for Validation of Informal Learning to VET Institutions in the Field of Sustainable Agriculture

Acronym: AgroSkill

Competition title: Lifelong Learning Programme

Funding: EU programi

AFZ role: partner

Total value: €363,630.00

Funded amount: €272,722.00

Start date: 2013/10/01

End date: 2015/12/31

Web: http://agroskill.eu/

In the field of sustainable agriculture, some countries have taken recent validation initiatives in the context of the development of a national qualifications framework. In Spain, certification was created for staff in charge of supporting converted to organic agriculture farmers. In other
countries, such initiatives have remained limited, reflecting a lack of national strategies, a lack of knowledge on how to implement this validation in practice and - in some cases - a lack of confidence in the validation on the part of individuals and employers as well as cultural and attitudinal barriers. This can also come from a culture that values informal learning at the expense of formal, often negatively judged as too "academic" or unsuitable to local or professional characteristics.
To achieve this goal, it is important that trainers, tutors and managers of vocational training institutions acquire skills for the implementation of a validation system, and they know the real needs of their citizens, to provide training offer and validation systems as relevant as possible. The idea of the project is to analyze the modalities of implementation of system validation, and test method validation transfers identified as innovative, starting with the skills necessary for the exercise of the professions (farmers, agriculture employees, advisers and trainers),
acquired through informal or non-formal learning, which could be validated.

Prof. Marija Cerjak, PhD
University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture

Asst. Prof. Marina Tomić Maksan, PhD
University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture