EU CAP Network Seminar ‘Skills and lifelong learning for agricultural advisory and training service providers’

The call for expression of interest closed on 26 November 2023.

The agenda is available below.

Background information

To speed up the twin green and digital transition in agriculture and, at the same time, make sure that it is socially fair and just, it is crucial to have a more skilled and qualified agriculture community, specifically farmers, advisors and the workforce. These actors should be able to learn and acquire new skills in a lifelong journey.

Increasing the level of skills and developing new ones is a key outcome of a well-functioning AKIS (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems). New CAP strategic plans provide several tools through various interventions to foster knowledge exchange and training on innovative approaches for farmers, foresters and advisors; with high potential for increased uptake by and enhanced impact among relevant stakeholders. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing need for the development of new, more interactive and effective approaches in addressing skills shortages in the agricultural sector - within the context of AKIS and the CAP. Against this background, several initiatives are taking place at the EU level. Supported by the European Commission, stakeholders of the agriculture and food industry have established a skills partnership under the EU Pact for Skills. While 2022 has been the European Year of Youth, 2023 is the European Year of Skills.

Moreover, under the new CAP, advisors have an increasingly important place in AKIS with their roles in transferring knowledge and innovation, capturing farmers’ needs, acting as innovation brokers, and participating in and sharing knowledge from EIP-AGRI Operational Group innovative projects. Additionally, their expertise is expected to expand to broader environmental, social and economic topics. Therefore, training and upskilling of advisors is necessary for supporting their expanding role within AKIS.

For all the above reasons, the EIP-AGRI Support Facility organised this seminar on skills and lifelong learning for advisory and training service providers for the agriculture sector with a focus on skills and training delivery.

The main objective of the seminar was to exchange knowledge and identify good practices for training and advisory services to support lifelong learning AKIS-wide.

The specific objectives of the seminar were:

This seminar specifically focused on advisors and training providers including representatives from vocational education & training organisations. Other participants were: representatives of Managing Authorities whose work revolves around agriculture advisory and training, innovation brokers, representatives from farmer and forester organisations as well as researchers and representatives of EU-funded projects dealing with the theme of the seminar.

For any questions, please contact seminar.innovation@eucapnetwork.eu