<< Background >>We live in the Anthropocene. Four of the nine planetary boundaries scientists introduced, referring to processes that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth System, have now been crossed as a result of human activity: climate change, loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, altered biogeochemical cycles (Stockholm Resilience Centre, 2015.) While agriculture plays a vital role in every aspect of our lives, and it holds answers to challenges facing people and planet, it is directly linked to the four aforementioned problematic threat sectors. Agricultural sector is acknowledged as one of the most important sectors in the transformation of the EU economy and society towards a long-term sustainable future. For Europe to avert the worst effects of environmental change, assure ecosystem benefits and to accomplish the ambitious goals of the pillars of sustainability a collaborative, transformative action should be taken, with farmers playing a key role, as they are strategically positioned to be part of the solution. Sustainable agriculture is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda and the EU Green Deal. The Farm to Fork Strategy states clearly that EU needs to redesign the food systems which today put huge pressure on the environment and do not allow fair economic returns and livelihoods for primary producers. The new CAP indicates that farmers need to act as managers of the countryside, meet the consumers’ demands and comply with the new EU regulations and strategies. So, EU farmers are faced with several challenges, as they continue to supply food and non-food products and at the same time, are asked to contribute to the transition towards a sustainable future. The Skills Panorama mentions that as agricultural practices are central to promoting environmental sustainability, there is a growing need for skilled agricultural workers to understand how environmental sustainability is integral and applicable to their everyday practice and to be aware of pertinent market regulations and EU and national level regulations. The “Farmers of the Future” report (EC, 2020) suggests that farmers need to be upskilled and reskilled so as to be creative, curious, resourceful, agile, networked, service- and society oriented, emotionally intelligent and open-minded, for the sustainable transformation of agriculture to be achieved. The NEXT Food project (2020), in the Inventory of the skills needed for a transition to more sustainable agriculture identified among other the following skills for the future for farmers: interdisciplinarity, holistic knowledge, lifelong learning, applying tools for sustainable farming, digital and soft skills. Finally, the 2021-2027 Digital Education Action Plan addresses how the deployment of digital technologies, such as blended learning, can be used to improve and extend education and training in rural areas. Unfortunately, certain limitations have made it difficult for farmers to fulfil the expectations as promoters of sustainable development. As they live in rural areas, they are often lack access to reliable information and training opportunities based to their specific learning needsKnowledge and innovation have a key role to play in helping farmers and rural communities meet substantial challenges. Although there is already a substantial amount of knowledge available to answer these challenges, it tends to stay fragmented and insufficiently applied in practice. The insufficient or too slow uptake of new knowledge and innovative solutions in farming, in particular by small and medium-sized farms, hampers a smooth transition towards a more sustainable agriculture as well as the farm sector's competitiveness and sustainable development (Preparing for Future AKIS in Europe, 2019.) Therefore, farmers, as well VET actors involved must simultaneously step up their efforts across the EU to develop new applied knowledge to achieve the CAP objectives and deliver on international commitments.<< Objectives >>Farm4SD purpose:Farm4SD aims at developing a holistic, innovative and inclusive approach to farmers’ and especially to medium and small farm holders’ training on the pillars of the sustainable agriculture–The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, EU Green Deal, From Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies and the new CAP – combined with entrepreneurial and soft skills, so as farmers and C-VET educators to upskill and reskill, in order to become true factors of change and contribute to environmental protection, to the sustainable growth of our planet and to rural development. Target groups:• Farmers, especially medium and small farm holders• VET providers, Teachers and Trainers• Advisors, Researchers and Farmer Organisations, HEIs, adult education institutions, local authorities, policy makers, NGOsFor these target groups the project aspires to:• Develop a culture of sustainability and innovation among EU farmers and empower them by providing a set of cutting-edge training resources building on skills intelligence, available in digital and open media• Foster the capacity building of C-VET educators in sustainable agriculture, advanced training methodologies and skill’s recognition approaches, to be able to meet the needs of the agricultural labour market. • Support the development of micro-learning, digital based VET resources well aligned to evolving working methods and key competences in the subject area• Enable the green and digital transformation of agricultural sector and C-VET provision by offering policy recommendations• Support inclusion and accessibility in VET by reaching farmers in rural areas and C-VET educators faced with geographical and socio-economic barriers• Utilize the EQF, the updated ECVET, ECTS and micro-credential approach to facilitate transparency and recognition of competences, learning, advocacy, and employability in the sustainable agricultural sector• Increase the capacity of participating organisations to collaborate at transnational level and adopt new methods and best practices in their everyday operations that can be transferred all over Europe and beyond<< Implementation >>Project Activities• Project Management activities that include all the management actions that will be implemented to support the successful delivery of the Farm4SD project, such as implementation of 5 face-to-face transnational project meetings; the development of contractual agreements with all partners; Erasmus+ financial & administrative guidelines, documents, and templates; Meetings’ agendas and minutes; interim and final reporting activities; Operation of a project management platform (BaseCamp); Establishment of a Project Management Committee to ensure that agreed project objectives and results will be achieved on time, within scope and budget, meeting all stakeholders’ needs. • Dissemination and Exploitation activities that include the development of the project logo and the branding strategy; document and presentation templates; project leaflet; dissemination and exploitation plan; dissemination reports; project website; social media pages; project's video; press releases and e-Newsletters. In addition, 4 promotional events/multiplier events named “Farm4SD Info-Day” will be implemented in each partner country and one Final Conference. • Quality Assurance and Impact assessment activities that include the development of the Quality Assurance plan; implementation of Quality Assurance Surveys and development of the corresponding reports; development of the Impact plan and implementation of Impact and risk assessments• Jointed Staff Training Activity (LTTA): The Farm4SD LTTA has as an aim to bring together vocational educators/trainers, staff or associates of partner organisations in order to reskill and upskill on sustainability in the agricultural sector, on key competences regarding agriculture entrepreneurship, funding opportunities, advanced VET learning methods and techniques and the implementation of the updated ECVET, ECTS and Micro-credential approach in validating learning outcomes. • Development of the following Results:R1-Farm4SD Methodological Framework on the Pillars of Sustainable AgricultureR2-Farm4SD Modular Training CourseR3-Farm4SD Train-the-Trainers Programme for VET EducatorsR4-Farm4SD Multifunctional and Interactive Platform R5-Farm4SD Recommendation & Good Practice Booklet<< Results >>The Farm4SD project is expected to have the following outcomes provided in all partner languages:1) Results R1-Farm4SD Methodological Framework on the Pillars of Sustainable Agriculture: an innovative methodological framework about the sustainable agriculture’s pillars teaching and farmers’ skills upgrade. It will discuss the gaps in these fields, the peculiarities and needs of the target groups in each partner country, the best practices in farmers’ C-VET provision, as well as the skills’ recognition paths based on established European VET tools and approaches: EQF, updated ECTS or/and ECTS, Micro-credential approachR2-Farm4SD Modular Training Course: a needs-oriented blended-learning curriculum and training modular package for farmers to equip them with knowledge and skills regarding: the pillars of the sustainable agriculture, business skills that are needed so as farmers to become real entrepreneurs and transform their business in order to continue to exist in the new “sustainable” era, specific soft skills such as creativity, emotional intelligence, communication, networking and agility, and EU funding opportunities for the sustainable transition of the agricultural sectorR3-Farm4SD Train-the-Trainers Programme for VET Educators: a training programme to ensure that VET educators are fully trained to harness the potential of the Farm4SD suite of resources (R2) to support farmers to build key hard and transversal high-value skills sets and are well-educated regarding advanced training methodologies, online and offline, as well as the EU qualification validation tools.R4-Farm4SD Multifunctional and Interactive Platform and Delivery of the Farm4SD Modular Training Course (MOOC): a multifunctional online learning platform, linked also to the project’s website, that will support and supplement the activities pursued, including the implementation of R2 and R3, and facilitate the exchange of knowledge between members of the platform and the broader target audience.R5-Farm4SD Recommendation & Good Practice Booklet: recommendations and good practices that capture all the project’s lessons-learned and the insights derived from stakeholders’ consultation, which can be taken up by local, regional, national and EU institutions and policy makers, so as the quality of C-VET provision and policies, regarding farmers’ education on the pillars of sustainable agriculture, entrepreneurship, funding opportunities and soft skills, to be improved and better practices to be supported. 2) Tangible outcomes:· Contractual agreements, Erasmus + financial & administrative guidelines, documents and templates, Meetings’ agendas, minutes and attendance lists, project reports, Quality Assurance, Risk and Impact Plan, assessments reports.· Dissemination and Exploitation Plan, Dissemination reports, e-Newsletters, Facebook and Instagram pages, Project Website · Project logo, branding framework and leaflet, Documents’ and Presentations’ templates, Project’s presentation3) Intangible outcomes:· Implementation of one LTTA (C1)· Implementation of 5 face-to-face partner meetings and at least 4 online· Creation of networks of cooperation at local, regional, EU and international level consisted of the partner organisations, the associated partners and members of the local communities and their networks.· Increased knowledge and awareness on the themes of the project and its outputs through the “Farm4SD Info-Day” multiplier events and the final conference, reaching 150 individuals and stakeholders · At least 350 stakeholders will be reached via the implementation of R1· At least 220 farmers and VET educators will be trained via the implementation of the LTTA, R2, R3 and R4· Engage at least 30 stakeholders in the process of developing the policy recommendations (R5) · Reach more than 2.000 stakeholders, through dissemination actions