In the last years rural areas are facing hard challenges: - The economic crisis that EU is facing in the last years had negative effects on the employment rate in the member countries. More specifically the unemployment rate in the EU passed from 6,4% in 2007 to 11,2% in January 2015 (Eurostat, March 2015). In addition to this the unemployment rate in predominantly rural regions of the EU is even higher: 11% compared to 8,5% in predominantly urban region in 2011 (EC, 2012). - The share of population participating to lifelong learning courses in rural areas of the EU-27, reached 6.6%, which was lower than in intermediate urbanised (8.4%) and densely-populated areas (11.1%) (EC, December 2013). - The enormous consumption of agricultural land for settlement, traffic and industry. According to the Corine Land Cover data, between 2000 and 2006 the surface reduction of arable land, permanent crops, pastures and mosaics has been of more than 500.000 ha in Europe. This is leading to the loss of centres of rural living because there are no further concepts for the use of existing agricultural buildings. The potential for reuse of existing agricultural buildings is huge, but there is a lack of possibilities to get to real experiences in this field from entrepreneur to entrepreneur. The aims of the REVAB project are: - To foster the entrepreneurial approach of the use of existing agricultural buildings in different regions of Europe. - To stimulate rural entrepreneurs, rural land and real estate owners and young farmers to think about possibilities of (re-) use and valorisation of existing agricultural real estate and farmstead respecting economic, ecologic and social effects. - To avoid further consumption of agricultural land through settlement and industrial real estate. These aims will be reached with the development of a training system based on case studies and OER. The aim of the training system is to provide comprehensive training for the reuse and valorisation of agricultural buildings based on case studies and digital OER designed for self-learning. The project has been structured in 6 Work Packages, (WPs): Implementation WPs: 1 – State of the art about the reuse and valorisation of agricultural buildings. 2 – Development of the training materials: case studies and complementary OER. 3 – Pilot testing and development of the definitive training system. Transversal WPs: 4 – Management. 5 – Monitoring and evaluation. 6 – Dissemination and exploitation. With this project we aim at reaching the following innovative results and impacts: - REVAB products will represent the first comprehensive, flexible and fully open-source training system for the reuse and valorisation of agricultural buildings; - Since one of the main training tools of the system will be case studies, trainees will have the opportunity of learning through real successful experiences and, for the first time, an entrepreneurial exchange about the topic will be possible on regional, on national as well as on European level; - The users of the REVAB training system will have the possibility of knowing what other European “colleagues” are actually successfully doing, select the aspects that fit his/her entrepreneurial, cultural and social context and finally implement the valorisation/reuse of agricultural buildings. This will motivate them and make them aware that “it could work!”; -The REVAB training system will include all the aspects of sustainability (social, environmental and cultural) in addition to pure economics; - The use of ICT and e-learning OER for training in this kind of field: according to our research and the needs analysis performed amongst the ELO members the REVAB training system will be the first one to provide comprehensive training for the reuse and valorisation of agricultural buildings based on ICT and e-learning OER. REVAB primary target group (rural entrepreneurs, rural land and real estate owners and young farmers), where access to VET is not always easy, may represent a group at risk of exclusion and, to make the access to training easier, training materials need to be flexible, available through ICT and free of charges. The REVAB training system meets all these requirements. The REVAB project consortium is made of 7 partners from Mediterranean Europe (Spain and Italy), Central Europe (Germany and Belgium) and Eastern Europe (Romania and Bulgaria). ELO (BE): A European Umbrella organisation gathering European Landowners. HuL (DE): An independent private consultancy focused on consulting of agricultural and rural family enterprises. OnP (ES): A project managing and project evaluation consulting enterprise. ASAJA (ES) and CIA (IT): Farmers associations. AEPMR (RO): NGO working on VET and adult learning in rural areas. AGRITOUR (BU): Organisation working for the development of rural areas in Bulgaria.
Rural areas have been facing significant challenges in recent years: - The economic crisis that the EU has faced in the last number of years has had negative impacts on employment rates in many of the Member States. More specifically, the unemployment rate in the EU went from 6.4% in 2007 to 11.2% in January 2015 (Eurostat, March 2015). In addition to this, the unemployment rate in predominantly rural regions of the EU has been even higher, at 11% compared to 8.5% in predominantly urban regions in 2011 (EC, 2012). - At the same time, participation in lifelong learning programmes is lower amongst rural populations. The share of the population participating to lifelong learning courses in rural areas of the EU-27 was 6.6% at the end of 2013, which was lower than in intermediate urbanised (8.4%) and densely-populated areas (11.1%) (EC, December 2013). - According to Corine Land Cover data, between 2000 and 2006, there was a reduction by more than 500,000 ha inthe surface area of arable land, permanent crops, pastures, and mosaics across Europe. This phenomenon can lead to the loss of centres of rural living. The potential for reusing existing agricultural buildings as centres of rural living is huge, but opportunities to learn about the experiences of entrepreneurs who have already gone through the process are scant.. The objectives of the REVAB project are: - To foster an entrepreneurial approach for the use of existing agricultural buildings in different regions of Europe. - To encourage rural entrepreneurs, rural land and real estate owners, and young farmers to think about possibilities for reuse and valorisation of existing agricultural real estate and farmsteads in a way that is conscious of economic, ecologic, and social impacts. - To avoid further consumption of agricultural land for new buildings when existing ones and their unique heritage could be preserved.. These aims were addressed with the development of a training system based on Open Educational Resources (OER). The REVAB project consortium was made of 5 partners from Mediterranean Europe (Spain and Italy), Central Europe (Germany and Belgium), and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria). ELO (BE): A European umbrella organisation representing European landowners. HuL (DE): An independent private consultancy focused on consulting agricultural and rural family enterprises. OnP (ES): A project management and project evaluation consulting enterprise. ASAJA (ES) and CIA (IT): Farmers’ associations. AGRITOUR (BU): An organisation working for the development of rural areas in Bulgaria. The above-mentioned objectives have been addressed through the development of a web-based training platform designed for self-learning. The training materials will help the main target groups (rural entrepreneurs, rural land and real estate owners, and young farmers) to gain the skillls and knowledge to reuse and and add value to agricultural buildings in a sustainable way. The training system is made up of the following elements: - A Summary Report about the state of the art of agricultural building reuse and valorisation aimed at providing the learner with background information about the situation in Europe and in the countries of the partner organisations working together on the project. - 16 Case Studies from the 5 countries involved in the project based on the selection of best practices related to reuse/valorisation. - Training Modules based on the skills and knowledge requirements that were identified in the Summary Report and the Case Studies which address the skills necessary for entrepreneurs to master reuse/valorisation successfully. The Training Modules also include evaluation questionnaires to self-assess the competences acquired. - A Serious Game which simulates the implementation of a reuse/valorisation process with individual learner’s input. In combination with the use of the accompanying Training Modules, the learner can apply the lessons learned and feedback from the Serious Game to his/her individual reuse/valorisation process, thereby increasing his/her chance of success.