Regina

Theme

REGINA is an Erasmus+ Cooperation partnership project, started in November 2021, with the participation of 5 European countries (Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy and Ireland) and 8 project partners. The project places an emphasize on Regenerative Agriculture, that can offer substantial results for sustainable farming by enhancing biodiversity “above and below the ground surface”, thus contributing to increased water and nutrient use efficiency and to improved and sustained crop production. Regenerative Agriculture (RA) proposes new farming techniques that supersede the current concept of conventional agriculture and proposes sustainable management of the soil with significant environmental and economic benefits, especially suitable for arable crops. RA gives farmers the means to conserve and make more efficient use of natural resources, thus offsetting the destructive forces of agriculture against biodiversity. In the medium term, RA has also been proved to bring economic benefits to the farmer (like increase of yields, reduction of off-site problems, labour and fuel savings, as well as cost-savings in annual crops)

Partners

  • Széchenyi István University – Coordinator (Hungary)
  • Slovenian Association for Conservation Agriculture (SACA, Slovenia)
  • Forestry and Wood Technology School in Postojna (SGLG, Slovenia)
  • South and East Cork Area Development CLG (SECAD, Ireland)
  • Veres Péter Secondary Vocational School (Hungary)
  • GYMSM Farmers’ Association (Magosz, Hungary)
  • University of Florence (Italy)

The need to re-direct agriculture towards innovative approaches that would help to mitigate climate change is urgent and pressing. Students in the fields of agronomy, but also agroforestry and rural development, should be suitably equipped to look at such innovative approaches, which are often stemming from traditional methods, suitably revisited and redefined, so that they can lead, as professionals, the effort towards mitigating climate change. At the same time, farmers should be also helped, through non-formal and informal learning, to understand how they can change their farming methods to make them more environmentally sensitive, using natural resources wisely, without losing income.

Objectives

In line with the above, the REGINA project objectives include:

  • Promote the principles and practices of RA across Europe.
  • Research and report on the already existing good practices of RA in the project countries and across Europe, identifying problems and attitudes that hinder further development of RA; as well as benefits for the farmers, that need to become more widely known; and create an RA Library of information, which will be constantly updated.
  • Create and pilot-test in HE a new and flexible methodology and educational content, for delivering RA courses to students of agriculture and related disciplines, with a view to equip future agronomists and related professionals with knowledge and skills to become leaders in RA, helping farmers to adjust their everyday practices accordingly.
  • Adapt and pilot-test the HE methodology, learning content and tools, so they meet the needs of secondary education students in agriculture and related professions; as well as the needs of non-formal adult learners, especially targeting farmers.
  • Design an interdisciplinary, digital open learning environment for all 3 tiers of education, hosting the learning resources created by the project, and offering interaction possibilities with local and national stakeholders and farmers’ communities, with the prospect of continuously enriching these resources through the active involvement of users.
  • Prepare and publish a Guidebook on RA Learning, addressing tertiary and secondary students and educators, trainers, advisors, other stakeholders in the field of agriculture and farmers themselves.
  • Disseminate widely the project products and results, through the dedicated REGINA platform and through the publicity and communication efforts of all project partners.

Euracademy Association will contribute to the above objectives, by taking active part in the implementation of the project.