General context: In the recent past, there has been an increasing demand for organic and inherently ‘green’ wine products which started with solid growth in the nineties and continues up to today. This is generally attributed to a variety of reasons. Firstly the increased awareness of climate change and global warming has seen a push for manufacturers and producers to explore more sustainable ways of making their products and show their green credentials. Organic farms may sometimes have lower overall input costs as opposed to conventional farms, due to a lack of need for fertilizers and chemicals, but conversely, often have higher labor costs and are not as easy to farm as conventional farms. Secondly, growing consumer concern over some agricultural production methods and a demand for products that they perceive as cleaner and greener has led to an increased demand for organic products. In a more environmentally conscious environment as seen in recent times, people want to look after not only the planet, but also themselves. Worldwide demand for organic products is reported to be increasing rapidly. European Context: The European Union has shown an increasing demand for organic wine. More and more new organically based wineries are being established and old traditional wineries want to add organic wine to their product line. This means organic wine are no longer the province of small family wineries with no market share. Many stores, particularly in the United Kingdom are becoming extremely eco and health conscious in the wake of public demand and now stock large ranges of organic varieties of wine. Recently a code of good organic viticulture and wine-making has been developed by the EU with organic viticulture and winemaking: development of environment and consumer friendly technologies for organic wine quality improvement and scientifically based legislative framework”. This was followed by a new regulation that was starting the 1st of August 2012, the wine may therefore be called bio/organic from the 2012 harvest when the manufacturer certifies that his wine were produced in compliance with the new regulations. However some approaches concerning organic vine and wine production need to be harmonized in function of specific constraints that can have each European countries of wine countries (climate, appellation rules, certification, product ageing). For this reason, the 5 universities specialized in oenology /agronomy of Bordeaux (model of Atlantic climate), Tarragona and Torino (models of Mediterranean climate), Geisenheim (model of continental climate) and Bucharest (model of eastern countries) are complementary to shared their experience and teaching specialties concerning organic vine and wine production to student involved in enology production. The demand of knowledge concerning organic vine and wine production is now increasing by industry and the needs of specialization of oenologists' students in this field is actually a necessity. The Universities of Bordeaux, Tarragona, Torino, Bucharest and Geisenheim have all recognized viticulture and oenology formation at the undergraduate and graduate levels and are involved in students' exchanges and research collaboration in this field. Two non-academic partners are also involved in the project. Today there is no harmonized European programme in organic vine and wine production. Our project purpose is to build 3 specific sections for students in this field in view of their future professional activities and professors in order to develop their teaching experience and exchange on this field.: 1. Dedicated an e-learning infrastructure and e-learning courses regularly update (Learning Management System) and develop an innovative support in sensory practical work teaching for students 2. Intensive Study Programmes (progressively open to professional sector) 3. General assemblies devoted to the program development In this context, our project will permit to increase: 1. Multilateral collaboration between European academies as well as vine and wine industry involved in agronomy and enology in organic vine and wine production 2. The transparency and the compatibilities between acquired competencies for students in initial or professional training, lifelong learning 3. The development of innovative education practices and transfer to the students (in initial or lifelong learning formations) in the field of oenology and vine management and development 4. The mobilities between students and professors in Europa in this field in the frame of Erasmus 5. The pedagogical documents/supports of teaching units of our project can be a starting point to prepare a multilateral European LMS dedicated to organic vine and wine production teaching including future video-classes and exchanges for students with regular update 6. The development of a harmonized pathway Master programme on organic vine and wine between the partner institutions
The Strategic Partnership OENOBIO gathers 5 European Universities: University of Bordeaux (France - coordinator), University Rovira i Virgili (Spain), Hochschule Geisenheim University (Germany), University of Torino (Italy), University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest (Romania) and two professional associations, ECOVIN (Germany) and Vignerons Bios Nouvelle Aquitaine (France). These partners, who met through the OENOVITI International Network, had already collaborated on a first Erasmus + Intensive Programme in 2014, when a first summer school on the theme of organic vine and wine was organized. After this first summer school, the partners came to the conclusion that there was a real need for training on organic viticulture and oenology at the European level, that the sector was seeking qualified professionnals and that to this day, there was no training programme on this theme at European level. Together, they decided to create the Strategic Partnership OENOBIO, with the following objectives: 1) The organisation of 3 international summer schools (one per year) on organic vine and wine, by developing pedagogical contant and an innovative concept, targeted to both professionals and students from the institutions of the Consortium. 2) The development of an e-Learning platform on this theme, with new pedagogical content. 3) The creation of a Master pathway programme on organic vine and wine, dedicated to future professionals from the sector who wish to move towards organic conversion. These objectives respond to an existing need of transformation of the conventional cultivation of vines to a cultivation that is more respectful of the environment - and this transformation is led by organic viticulture. To carry out this process, one must acquire certain skills, that are prepared in the teaching units of the OENOBIO Master programme, but also during the summer schools. To this need of training was also added the need of a transnational collaboration on this thematic. A European programme on organic vine and wine really brings added value: on the cultural level, for intercultural enrichment and exchange of good practices, but also on the scientific and fondamental level - viticulture in each country has its own specificities, its own varieties. Needs can differ from one country or one terroir to another: having this overall view and this diversity of cases is a real input for participants and it allows them to better anticipate the needs of their own field and its evolutions. Through this transnational collaboration, students have access to product samples (wine, grapes) and to practices that they would not be able to access otherwise. This collaboration has expanded the horizon of case studies and allowed to better promote what can be expected at the European level in terms of organic production. It allowed participants to propose new products, and reach new markets. Thanks to the pedagogical content developped throughout the project, new professionals from the sector will be able to manage a production tailored to the consumer's demand. People wishing to acquire these skills can acquire them all, by following the full OENOBIO Master programme, or partially according to their needs and previous achievements, through shorter training modules in Lifelong learning. The 3 summer schools developed throughout the project have demonstrated proof-of-concept thanks to which the participants have begun to acquire skills in this field, that they can re-use in their professional life. They have also permitted to identify new needs that will be addressed in the OENOBIO Master programme. The 3 conferences organised during the project have presented recent scientific data prepared by the Consortium members, knowledge about reglementations, and their evolution for participants to anticipate the future updates and obligations. In total, a hundred students combined have participated to the 3 summer schools of the project, around 30 professors and professionals have been involved in the preparation of these summer schools and of the pedagogical ressources. The 3 conferences total 700 participants, both from inside and outside Europe. The OENOBIO Master Programme should open in 2022/2023, gathering the pedagogical content created by the Consortium during the 3 years of the project, with the objective of training many future professionals of the sector.