The Rural Gozo Directorate within the Ministry for Gozo is participating in a Erasmus+ project entitled AgroSilver together with partners hailing from Estonia, France, Spain, Bulgaria and Greece. The project’s main objective is to improve the training being offered in the area of agroecology through the production of learning materials and videos. These are aimed at providing VET teachers and service providers with the necessary tools to encourage farmers to ameliorate their skill base and attain higher levels of education. Another objective of AgroSilver is  to preserve traditional methods of farming that are prevalent in the participating countries thereby preserve these  traditional practises for future generations.

Rural Gozo shall contribute towards the above objectives by coordinating 5 pilot projects that shall be held in  5 different countries through which the course content shall be validated through a series of workshops . One of these workshops shall be held in Gozo whereby 20 VET practitioners and farmers will be invited to validate the course contents and other materials produced by the project consortium. The Directorate is currently producing several educational videos, promoting the sustainable farming practises in Gozo. These are being produced in collaboration with the Lead Partner and once edited can be accessible through the project’s portal accessible on https://agrosilver.eu/

The Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh), the Greek Agrosilver Value partner has prepared to date 19 video interviews totalling more than 300 minutes with experienced farmers and experts in agroecology. The subjects of the videos range from ecology, biodiversity, soil quality, nutrition, waste management, and agrotourism to rural sociology and extension. Furthermore, in the context of Agrosilver Value the first year (2020-2021) Sustainable Agriculture (SA) MSc students each prepared a video interview presenting an interesting case study in agroecology from their home country (Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia), as part of their course requirements. Among the topics covered were biological waste management, the circular bioeconomy, and pest management. This produced such interesting videos and proved so popular with the students and staff, that henceforward it will be incorporated into the MSc program, and thus constitute a constant source of new material from the EU and the wider Mediterranean area.
In the context of the project MAICh also presents a webinar by Dr Vassilis Gkisakis, member of Agroecology Europe and former SA MSc program graduate, that provides an excellent introduction to agroecology. You can see it here