Background: FIELDS is an Erasmus+ project tackling the future skills needs in the agriculture and forestry sector. It comprises 30 partners from 12 different European countries and is coordinated by the university of Turin. There are new challenges and opportunities for agriculture today, driven by climate change, the greening of products and processes, the reuse of side-stream products, the higher complexity of value chains and the increased availability of information. The use of digital technologies, new business models and innovative strategies to respond to climate change are a selection of issues that can help to address them.
Implementation: The FIELDS approach, starting from the current and future trends and skills needed, will lead to a sustainable European strategy to address skills gaps. Since agriculture issues and opportunities differ a lot from country to country, the EU strategy will be customized to meet the demands for 7 different countries. It will address country-specific actions, occupational profiles and training material to reflect the country needs while keeping EU quality standards (ESCO, EQAVET, ECVET) in order to concretely address the mobility of learners throughout Europe.
Expected results: An Agriculture Sector Skill Alliance (SSA) will be established during the project to build upon the regulatory frameworks and opportunities at EU and country level, while proposing tangible and practical initiatives to address skills challenges, in particular through offering modular training inside the project while guaranteeing mobility of workers within the agriculture, forestry and agrifood industry.
