Abstract

According to the European Commission (2021), 90% of jobs in all sectors require some level of digital skills.
The main objective of this 2-year project is to tackle the digital skills gap in the horticultural sector of Armenia by improving the level of integrated use of digital technologies (such as the IoT, ICT, and Geospatial Technology) through capacity-building development for agricultural VET.
For this project, a consortium consisting of 2 Armenian partners and 2 EU partners was formed, of which 3 partners are companies/research organizations and 1 partner is an agricultural VET provider.
In this project, we aim to develop skilled human resources and academic infrastructure for teaching and using the geospatial approach for precision farming in Armenia, based on the needs of local partners and the experience of the project team.
In recent years, a good investment has been made by the private sector in Armenia to develop and grow large pistachio farms. It is clear that the existence of (specialized) human resources for continuous monitoring and management of pistachio orchards and the use of modern technologies will play an important role in the success of this investment. For this purpose, there is a need to train future VET students in pistachio farming management.
In this regard, we will design and develop 6 new curricula (open access and translation into the Armenian language) and digital tools with the prerequisite of developing a specialized Geo-ICT lab and a Pistachio Demo Farm for the execution of these courses.
Also, 115 teachers/instructors/students/interns will be trained (mostly female) during the project. The Pistachio Demo Farm will be located, equipped, maintained, and used by the industry partner in Armenia in collaboration with the VETFarm partners. The Demo Farm will also serve as a part of the VETFarm project to demonstrate various Precision Agriculture techniques (20 demo projects in the short-term and many in the medium and long-term).

Objectives

The main objective:
to improve the level of integrated use of digital technologies such as IoT, ICT, and Geospatial technology (Geo-ICT) in pista farms in Armenia,
through capacity building for VET institutions’ teaching staff and instructors for ensuring effective implementation of the new curricula.

Specific Objectives

To Establish a Network and exchange of good practices.
VETFarm system requirements analysis in Armenia in the pista sector.
Establishing a Demo Farm.
Creating/Updating the Geo-ICT lab.
Design and develop six new courses.
Design and develop Digital Tools for monitoring Pista.
Train-the-trainers (ToT) of the Armenian partners.
Execute developed courses (In-Person, and Online) for students/interns and staff.
Dissemination of the project outcomes.
Monitoring and evaluation of the piloted results.

Participants

Coordinator: AgriWatch BV
A consortium: 2 Armenian partners and 2 EU partners; 3 partners are companies and 1 partner is an HEI/Agricultural VET provider.
AgriWatch B.V., Netherlands
Wirelessinfo, Czechia
Armenian National Agrarian University, Armenia
Under Sun LLC, Armenia

Management and Coordination Activities

General management: Financial Management, Coordination of WPs, and Submission of Reports.

Needs Assessment

All Project requirements: curriculum, ToT, eLearning platform, equipment specifications, digital tools for pistachio management, Web-based platform, Web portal, Demo Farm and Geo-ICT lab.

Design and Development of VET Courses

Design and development of course materials (teaching, exercises, exams);
Exchange of good practices.

Design and Development of Digital Tools

Methodology development for pistachio management and monitoring,
Developing digital tools for pistachio monitoring,
eLearning platform development..

Design and Development of Demo Farm and Geo-ICT lab

Design and Developing a Demo Farm

Design and Developing a Geo-ICT lab

ToT and VETFarm Monitoring and Evaluation

Training of Trainers (ToT);

Workshop for trainers and experts;

Testing Equipment, eLearning & Pistachio Management Platform,

Scenario evaluation.

Impact and Dissemination

Dissemination Plan and Sustainability Strategy;

Dissemination of project activities;

International scientific and practical conferences;

Network scaling up and sharing knowledge;

Website/Web portal content and updating