To address this broad need, the Digital Farmer project—funded by the European Union and developed through an international multi-stakeholder cooperation involving training bodies, research institutions, universities, industrial consultancy firms, and local development agencies—was conceived as a project aimed at producing educational materials and innovative work-based learning methodologies, awareness-raising platforms, and tools for the exchange of best practices, as well as fostering the overall qualification of European VET systems related to agriculture. Its goal is to drive systemic change capable of making a tangible impact on achieving greater environmental and economic sustainability in the agricultural sector, as well as renewing, enhancing the attractiveness, and increasing the effectiveness of the VET system. This systemic action was precisely the rationale behind the development of the Digital Farmer project, which targets all European stakeholders in the agricultural sector, with a particular focus on educators and trainers through a train-the-trainer approach aimed at generating a multiplier effect across various European contexts.
The ubiquity of digital technologies is transforming agriculture and food production. Specifically, in the agricultural sector, the spread of mobile technologies, remote sensing services, and distributed computing is already improving producers’ access to information, inputs, and markets, increasing output and productivity, streamlining supply chains, and reducing operational costs and environmental impact. Therefore, farmers must develop a new set of skills across various application areas. As a result, the educational system needs to undergo an adaptation process in this direction—one that has become even more urgent due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A key aspect is the enhancement of educators’ and trainers’ skills, starting from the recognition of a common issue across Europe: the frequent lack of preparedness among educators and trainers, who are often still unaccustomed to using digital technologies in teaching and to adopting forms of distance learning, especially in the VET (Vocational Education and Training) sector.