Advancing agroecology in higher education of CASEE Countries

Naziv natječaja: CASEE Fund for Incentives 2024

Izvor financiranja: CASEE Fund for Incentives

Uloga AFZ: partner

Ukupna vrijednost: 6.685,00 EUR

Financirani iznos: 6.685,00 EUR

Broj ugovora: CASEE Fund 2024-3

Početak provedbe: 27.05.2024.

Završetak provedbe: 31.03.2025.

Agroecology has proven to be a suitable approach to the long-term sustainability of food systems (Anderson et al., 2019), raising interest in further research and education. According to The Farm to Fork Strategy and the European Green Deal agroecology has been recognised as a pillar of the EU's transition to a sustainable food system based on research and innovation. By now, agroecology has undergone a dynamic transformation which extended its dimensions and principles that should be followed in the adaptation of curricula at universities. Agroecology is a highly context-dependent approach that requires CASEE countries’ common action that stems from their historical, cultural, and development background within similar geographical contexts. Moreover, agroecology framework promotes the co-creation and sharing of knowledge where each of the participating partner countries can bring their contribution based on their expertise and conception. Given the growing interest in agroecology and its transdisciplinary nature, higher education should provide a vision of its development and participate in its expansion. The planned activities will synchronize agroecology curriculum unit topics that will ease the exchange of students, better integrate all dimensions of agroecology and enable synergies between the multidimensional aspects of the food system across countries.

Project goals:
● Strengthen the agroecology position within the CASEE Universities
● Identify how the agroecology paradigm can improve higher education programmes
● Propose a common curriculum for higher education that reflects the current context of agroecology.
● Creation of a network of scholars/professors that teach agroecology within CASEE

prof. dr. sc. Željka Zgorelec
Sveučilište u Zagrebu Agronomski fakultet

izv. prof. dr. sc. Ivana Šestak
Sveučilište u Zagrebu Agronomski fakultet

izv. prof. dr. sc. Darija Bilandžija
Sveučilište u Zagrebu Agronomski fakultet