Preparing farmers, their workforce and advisors to the future of agriculture by providing the relevant knowledge, skills and competences at the right time and place

Expected Outcome:Successful proposals will support the common agricultural policy (CAP), in particular its cross-cutting objective[1], and related climate, biodiversity and other environmental policies, by enhancing the relevant knowledge, skills and competences of farmers, their workforce and advisors that they need for the transition to more competitive, sustainable and resilient agriculture.

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• lifelong learning (LLL)[2], including various agricultural educational and training systems, are innovative, fit-for-purpose, more responsive to the diverse and fast-changing needs of the learners, and effective in preparing the current and future generations of farmers, agricultural workers and advisors to the future of farming;
• farmers, agricultural workforce and advisors have the relevant, comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge, skills and competences to cope with and benefit from the various drivers of change, and improve competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of their farms;
• introduction, spread and implementation by farmers in their practice of new knowledge and solutions are accelerated, leading to improved productivity and sustainability performance of farming systems in all three dimensions – economic, social and environmental.

Scope:Knowledge, skills and competences are key enablers for more competitive, sustainable and resilient agriculture[3]. However, there are growing concerns in many EU Member States over the shortages and mismatches of knowledge, skills and competences among the farming community working in the diverse and fast-changing contexts[4]. To be prepared and benefit from the various climate, environmental, technological, socio-economic and other relevant drivers of change, the farming community, specifically farmers, their workforce, and advisors, should be able to learn and use in practice the relevant knowledge, skills, and competences, at the right time and place in a lifelong journey.

Against this background, proposals should:

• develop, improve and apply methodology to assess and foresee what knowledge, skills and competences farmers, their workforce and advisors currently have and need/will need in the future to improve competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of agriculture in light of the evolving context. This should enable the identification of potential gaps and opportunities for upskilling and reskilling, new LLL activities and methods, and serve as a baseline for future assessments of the actions aimed at enhancing the knowledge, skills and competences.
• map, assess and explore how farmers, their workforce and advisors are and should acquire knowledge, skills and competences (e.g., methods and tools, timing, frequency and place, incentives, etc.), as well as who is and who should be providing them in order for LLL to be practice-oriented, attractive, effective, timely and up-to-date; take into account also how the 27 Member States designed their CAP interventions related to LLL.
• investigate how to widely and effectively disseminate new practice-oriented knowledge and innovations, resulting from e.g. diverse research and innovation projects, among farmers, their workforce and advisors; in particular analyse what approaches/tools, communication materials and channels are preferred, trusted and used by farmers, their workforce and advisors; based on the analysis provide toolbox and guidelines;
• map, assess and compare agricultural LLL, including education and training systems, across the EU and beyond, explore and assess best practices on how to embed the knowledge collected within the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS)[5] structures to provide valuable input for LLL, including education and training systems, and provide recommendations for improving LLL, including educational and training systems, in view of making them more effective in supporting the transition to competitive, sustainable and resilient agriculture;
• co-create, pilot, test, and share new, interactive, effective approaches and tools (e.g., exploring the potential of generative AI and social innovation), to stimulate LLL, increase knowledge flows within AKIS and enable farmers, their workforce and advisors to quick, easy and affordable access to impartial and relevant knowledge, skills and competences supporting their decision-making;
• explore potential synergies between EU instruments and develop new practical approaches to better connect Horizon-funded projects, EIP-AGRI operational groups projects and Erasmus+ projects to LLL in agriculture, including education and training systems, to maximise the impact of these projects for LLL and promote a more coherent approach to knowledge, skills and competences development;
• develop and test a system(s) compatible with existing EU-wide initiatives[6] that acknowledge(s) and reward(s) farmers, their workforce and advisors who engage in LLL. The system(s) should include different levels of recognition based on the extent and depth of LLL activity completed, as well as be visible, verifiable, and tied to tangible benefits, providing a strong incentive for continuous learning. The project should also assess how the system(s) can be of benefit for the knowledge, skills and competences development of the farming community.

Proposals should include a dedicated task and appropriate resources to cooperate with project that will be selected under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-13, ensuring complementarities and avoiding duplication of efforts.

Proposals must implement the 'multi-actor approach', with a consortium based on a balanced mix of relevant actors, including farmers, advisors, agricultural educators and trainers, and other relevant AKIS actors with relevant knowledge and information, and ensuring inclusive co-creation in order to better understand their current and future needs for knowledge, skills and competences, and co-develop the best approaches to effectively address these needs.

Proposals should consider in the research and innovation activities national/regional and context specificities, evolving farm structures and labour organisation, as well as social diversity in a comprehensive way. This topic should involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines.

[1] Article 6(2) of the Regulation (EU) 2021/2115

[2] Lifelong learning (LLL) encompasses all learning activities undertaken throughout life with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences, within personal, civic, social or employment-related perspectives. The intention or aim to learn is the critical point that distinguishes these activities from non-learning activities, such as cultural or sporting activities.

[3] Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture - European Commission

[4] Policies for the Future of Farming and Food in the European Union | OECD.

[5] AKIS is defined in Article 3(9) of the Regulation (EU) 2021/2115

[6] e.g., micro-credentials, individual learning accounts, European Quality Assurance Reference Framework in VET, etc.