Category Archives: report

Final SEED Project Report Published

17th November 2021Digital Farming, report, researchKarl

SEED partners are pleased to announce the publication of their final report on Assessment Standards for Quality Assurance and 5 connected Annexes.

The report establishes a set of assessment standards that are attached to the Joint Curriculum, which comprises the content of the curricular units.

Some of the assessment standards were designed using the ECVET tools and methodologies.

During the last phase of the project international students carried out a three-months long mobility abroad where possible despite Covid restrictions, to pilot the standards.

Download the Standards and Annexes (in zip format)

Precision or Digital or Smart Farming

30th October 2021Digital Farming, reportKarl

Are you confused about the differences between Digital Smart and Precision farming? DTN has produced a summary to clarify these terms.

Digital farming involves implementing technology such as data science, digital communication channels, and automation and sensors to improve agricultural outcomes.

Farming systems operate through an integrated set of activities performed by farmers under their resources and circumstances to maximise productivity on a sustainable basis. The adoption of digital farming reduces risks and uncertainties by giving farmers access to data and information to manage their farming practices and make decisions. Farmers are able to improve the processes due to better efficiency, optimising the supply chain and establish better decision-making. Digital farming offers a way also to improve quality control and quality assurance and farmers can achieve improved environmental outcomes.

“Smart farming” refers to managing farms using technologies to increase the quantity and quality of products while optimising the human labour required by production. Smart farming technologies can be used to collect measurements of factors that affect farming outcomes. Many technological devices can be used, such as geo-mapping, satellite technology, drones, and on-farm and vehicle-mounted sensors. The analysis of data creates recommendations to improve yields and make farming sustainable.

According to Wikipedia, “precision agriculture” involves employing satellite farming technology or site specific crop management based on observing, measuring and responding to inter and intra-field variability in crops.

The SEED project has created a qualification profile addressing these aspects and the necessary competences to provide support and advice to implement the technology and make suitable decisions.

Find out more about the differences between Smart – Digital – Precision farming from DTN

World Food Day: OECD call for better food systems

21st October 2021Conference, reportKarl

The first UN Food Systems Summit was held during the UN General Assembly in New York on September 23 2021. The purpose was to accelerate action and to transform food systems to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

There are three major challenges facing food systems, firstly ensuring food security, secondly supporting people’s livelihoods, and thirdly doing so in an environmentally sustainable way. Effective policies are needed if these three goals are to be achieved.

The Action Areas of the UN Food System Summit are the result of an 18-month inclusive and engaging process with diverse stakeholders.

Action Track 1 – access to safe nutritious food for all

Action Track 2 – Sustainable consumption

Action Track 3 – Nature positive production

Action Track 4 – Livelihood and equality

Action Track 5 – Resilience

Action track 6 – Governance

Find out more about the Action Areas of the UN Food System Summit

Digital agriculture will play a significant role in addressing these action areas as a digital agriculture system can help gather agricultural data more frequently and accurately. together with other data, like weather information, farmers can make more informed and appropriate decisions about their farms. These decisions could be quickly implemented with greater accuracy through technologies like robotics and advanced machinery. These systems can also provide feedback more efficiently to improve knowledge.

To support World Food Day, OECD have created the OECD Food Systems portal, a resource to support better policies for food systems.

A Food Systems Community has been established to gather and connect key stakeholders across the food system and is open to everyone with an interest in following developments and contributing to the Summit. Visit the Food Systems Community platform

Draft SEED report on assessment standards

7th September 2021Digital Farming, report, researchKarl

Members of the SEED project have created a report on “Elaboration of assessment standards for national and transnational work-based learning activities”. This provides valuable quality aspects developed through the use of the European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) framework.

EQAVET provides VET providers with a straightforward way to monitor and improve the quality of their provision. It is based on a four-stage cycle of planning, implementation, evaluation and review which is at the heart of many other quality assurance approaches.

Introducing quality assurance frameworks in work-based learning is a recent priority in vocational training. Countries at the early stages of developing their quality assurance practices can learn from the experiences of those who have already implemented consistent quality approaches.

The report describes how the Quality Assurance process can be established to set standards for mobility actions and assesses national and transnational work-based learning activities. This draft version will be reviewed during the third international peer-review in September 2021 by the members of the Advisory Board of the project.

Building agricultural resilience: OECD News

20th July 2021Digital Farming, report, sustainabilityKarl

Set in the context of climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme events, causing production losses, damaging land and assets in agricultural sectors, and threatening livelihoods around the world. THE OECD has published a new report on “Building Agricultural Resilience”.

The latest OECD-FAO report proposes a new approach to building agricultural resilience to natural hazard-induced disasters, drawing from country case studies. To address the looming threat of climate change to agriculture, the report finds that more good practices and policy actions are needed.

The report is available online in the OECD Library.

OECD report on Government support to agriculture

29th June 2021reportKarl

Government support fo agriculture has continued to grow worldwide in recent years, but is often failing to meet its stated aims of improving food security, livelihoods and environmental sustainability, according to a new report from the OECD. There are relatively low levels of innovation.

Monitoring of 54 countries showed that only 6% of all budgetary transfers to the sector, or USD 26 billion per year, was spent on agricultural innovation systems, despite their high social returns.

The annual report on Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation includes country specific analysis based on up-to-date estimates of support to agriculture. The 2021 report focuses on policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and analyses the implications of agricultural support policies for the performance of food systems.

More information on Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation at the OECD

What role for the OECD Green Recovery Database?

17th June 2021report, researchKarl

As part of a Green Recovery post-Covid, Governments have the opportunity to unleash innovation, undertake wider reaching and fundamental restructuring of certain sectors, accelerate existing environmental plans, and make use of environmentally sustainable project developments. The OECD has established a database of Green Recovery initiatives to share what is being done and provide examples of innovative actions.

The OECD Green Recovery Database contains information from national-level environmentally relevant measures, at the moment spread over 43 countries and the European Union. It covers a wide range of environmental impacts beyond energy and climate, including pollution (air, plastics), water, biodiversity, and waste management, many of which are related to agricultural practices.

The results so far indicate that there are insufficient green measures to enable the necessary transformation towards long-term climate and environmental objectives.

The database deals with measures specifically related to COVID-19 economic recovery efforts with clear positive, negative or “mixed” environmental impacts across one or several environmental categories. What role can the database play in supporting and enabling action?

Find out more – Read the OECD Policy Brief

Organisations like CarbonBrief are also monitoring the work of governments on their green recovery as countries look towards recovery as the pandemic’s impact starts to slowly recede. Visit their tracking of policies.

Based on the UN Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations have published a Research Roadmap for COVID-19 Recovery. It is important to note the extent to which science is being supported as part of recovery plans.

SEED publishes Joint Digital Farming Curriculum in 4 languages

17th May 2021Digital Farming, report, researchKarl

Partners in the SEED Project have developed and finalised the curriculum content for the Joint Qualification in Digital Farming. The results have been validated with national focus-groups and through international peer-review events. They are now published and available as a brand-new Curriculum mapped both on DigComp and EntreComp.

The curriculum can be used as a stand alone EQF5 qualifications profile in Digital Farming or as a modular and flexible VET course to update or integrate inside existing qualifications.

Download the curriculum below

Joint Curriculum in Digital Farming

Joint Curriculum (Dutch version)

Joint Curriculum (Slovak version)

Joint Curriculum (Spanish version)

SEED Project presented at EUROGEO2021

26th April 2021Conference, reportKarl

The SEED Project was disseminated at the EUROGEO 2021 Conference on April 23rd 2021. Due to the Covid pandemic the conference was held online, hosted by UNEC, Madrid, the Spanish Open University.

The conference theme Sustainable Development Goals for all, where the SDGs seek to promote a multidimensional model of development capable of guaranteeing sustainability. This involves a complex process of political and economic discussion and environmental concern with different views, which must be addressed from all areas of society.

SEED was included as part of the presentation “Geo_projects and Innivation in Education”. You can follow the presentation here below.

Geo-projects and Innovation in Education from Karl Donert, EUROGEO