April 30, 2021 Technical note Open Access

Supporting advice, education and lifelong learning to promote agroecological transitions

Schwarz, Gerald; Prazan, Jaroslav; Landert, Jan; Miller, David; Vanni, Francesco

Improving farmer knowledge of the benefits of agro-ecological practices and economic opportunities is a key aspect for successful agro-ecological transitions. This can be achieved by: i) on-farm peer-to-peer learning; ii) actor-led knowledge and innovation and active sharing of place-based knowledge; iii) principles and practices of agro-ecology in school curricula covering principles of food production and consumption, agricultural practices, and social responsibility. This underlines the importance of policy to support advice, education and life-long learning by:

• including principles and practices of agro-ecology in school curricula, continuing professional development, and citizen focused learning;
• increasing the capacity of local actors to create agro-ecological networks, and cooperation with schools through public learning and procurement programmes.

This Policy Brief is one of a set produced by the H2020 UNISECO project. Others are accessible on the Zenodo repository under the UNISECO Community.

UNISECO is a European research project aiming to develop innovative approaches to enhance the understanding of socio-economic and policy drivers and barriers for further development and implementation of agro-ecological practices in EU farming systems. Learn more about the project: https://uniseco-project.eu/

This project has received funding from the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 773901.

This publication reflects only the authors' view and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.