The TAKE OFF project aimed to promote Environmentally Friendly Farming (EFF), in line with major EU policies and initiatives, e.g., EU climate targets, Biodiversity Strategy. In addition to these key policies for sustainable development, the TAKE OFF project was tailored to the ERASMUS+ Horizontal Priorities for the environment and fight against climate change and stimulating innovative learning and teaching practices. The concrete objectives of the project were: - Produce an e-learning course for Environmental Friendly Farming (EFF). - Built an online tool for promoting EFF practices. - Produce a replicability e-package for education & training activities related to EFF. - Interact with the target groups and increase outputs uptake by implementing 2 multiplier events, in Cyprus and Italy.
The TakeOff project was developed due to the lack of VET tailored for professionals in the agricultural production sector. Typically, a farmer has to wade through a large number of policy instruments, accompanied by scientific terms not adequately explained (e.g. N2K, Carbon Farming). At the global scale, Agricultural Practices (APs) are responsible for 17-20% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but are also the main driver for biodiversity and habitat degradation and loss. Farmers remain the real countryside managers with paramount importance in the effort to meet the targets for the EU Biodiversity Strategy (BDS) 2030 and the EU climate targets for 2050. The needs that the project addressed were (1) the lack of VET material targeting farmers, for Environmental Friendly Farming (EFF) and (2) the IT literacy of the farmers. To address those needs, TAKE OFF project developed an e-course, an interactive tool for estimating the environmental footprint of agriculture and a replicability e-package to assist VET educators in implementing the proposed activities and training plans. All materials are according to the farmers’ IT literacy and present in layman terms the key EU policies for the environment and climate change.