RELIEF- euRopean bio-Economy aLliancE in Farming

Farming in the EU is essential to livelihoods and local development while facing many challenges such as limited resources and growing environmental challenges. Bioeconomy is a solution towards this problem. For a successful bio-economy strategy in farming, further support is needed for the workforce, more knowledge about the impact and business models of bio-economy, and raising more awareness and involvement of a wider range of actors. Training in the bio-economy is still absent in many EU countries and there is a shortage of people with higher education in the farming sector. The transition to the bio-economy needs professionals with multidisciplinary, managerial, and cross-sectoral expertise. Higher education and vocational training can play a critical role in this transition by integrating dedicated curricula and training.

RELIEF aims to develop and deliver an innovative approach for teaching bio-economy in farming, by developing specific learning resources addressing HEIs students and farming practitioners. HEIs, VETs, farmer consultants, research institutes, and social partners from Italy, Greece, Sweden, Cyprus and Portugal will deliver a high-quality network within the EU to advance bio-economy in the farming agenda.

RELIEF will deliver a training needs analysis and develop two curricula in bio-economy, for HE students, farming practitioners, and farmers to explore the key areas that are critical for the implementation of business models and strategies for bio-economy in farming. Based on this knowledge, RELIEF will design and pilot learning units that will incorporate a mix of training methodologies. An e-learning platform will offer learning resources in 5 languages for self-training and networking to support the long-term sustainability of farming enterprises.

RELIEF will stimulate significant changes in the university curricula, course content, and VET training by integrating a learner-centered approach based on problem-based, active and transformational learning

Project objectives

The general goal of RELIEF is to foster the potential of Higher Education (HE) and Vocational Education & Training (VET) models to provide new training approaches, innovative learning material, and training practices in the field of bio-economy focusing to open up new learning opportunities for the embedding of bio-economy principles and practices in farming.