Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Box 16.1  An overview of educational initiatives in 
ecological agriculture in selected countries in Europe
The first university courses in ecological agriculture in Europe were started in 1982 at the
University of Kassel, Witzenhausen (Germany) and at Wageningen Agricultural University
(the Netherlands), where professorships in ecological agriculture had been established.
During the mid-1980s, single courses in ecological agriculture were started in several
European universities. In many places these courses have evolved into programs, of which
an overview is presented here.
Network approach
A popular European-wide 'common degree level specialisation in ecological agriculture'
at the Bachelor level has been running for close to a decade under the EU's Socrates
program. The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (Den Kongelige Veterinær- og
Landbohøjskole, KVL) in Denmark; University of Wales, Aberystwyth; Wageningen
University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala; University of Kassel,
Witzenhausen, Institut Superieur d'Agriculture Rhones-Alpes, France; University of Tuscia,
Viterbo, Italy; Agricultural University of Norway, Ås, and Helsinki University, Finland, have
been the main partners in this consortium. The consortium was reorganised into the
European Network of Organic Agriculture University Teachers in 2003. It now includes
universities in Slovenia, Poland, Austria, Hungary and Portugal. The Network's website,
where all relevant information concerning institutions, contact people and course offers
are given (ENOAT 2004).
A three-year pilot project, Learning through Exchange - Agriculture, Food Systems
and Environment (LEAFSE) is being led by the KVL in Denmark with three other European
partners (Wageningen University, University of Wales, Aberystwyth and University of
Kassel) and four Australian partner universities, University of Queensland (St Lucia and
Gatton, Queensland), University of New England (Armidale, New South Wales),
University of Western Australia, (Perth, Western Australia) and University of Western
Sydney (Richmond, New South Wales). This project has organic farming as the focal
point of a one semester exchange study at MSc level.
Programs at the Bachelor and Master level
Austria . University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, offers a
two-year Master of Science (MSc) in organic farming.
France . Beginning in 2004, the FESIA group of five engineering universities in
agriculture and the food industry offer a two-year specialisation in agroecology.
Germany . University of Kassel, Faculty of Organic Agriculture Sciences at
Witzenhausen, has a three-year program in organic agriculture and a two-year MSc in
international ecological agriculture.
Italy . The University of Turin offers a three-year Bachelor of Science (BSc) in organic
farming. The University of Tuscia offers a three-year BSc in ecological agriculture. The
two, in collaboration with FESIA and the Agricultural University of Norway, also offer a
two-year international MSc in agroecology.
Slovenia . The University of Maribor offers a two-year MSc program in organic
production and Improvement of alternative crops.
The Netherlands . Wageningen University offers a three-year BSc program and a
two-year MSc- program in organic agriculture.
Wales . University of Wales, Aberystwyth, offers a BSc in organic agriculture and a
Postgraduate Certificate in Organic Farming.
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