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Ongoing project: URBAN GREEN TRAIN
URBAN GReen Education for ENTteRprising Agricultural INnovation (Urban Green Train-UGT).
Countries concerned: European Community
Budget
The total budget is 448 k€ of which 63 k€ for Agreenium  
Donor
European Commission (Erasmus +)
Duration
3 years (Sept 2014 - Aug 2017)
Main partners
  • Alma Mater Studiorum- Universita di Bologna (UNIBO, Italy-Coordinator),
  • Agreenium, 
  • Stichting International Network Of Resource Centers on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (Stichting Ruaf-Netherlands), 
  • South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences (Germany), 
  • Steps (Italy), Mammut Film (Italy),
  • Horticity (Italy), Vegepolys (France),
  • Hei-tro GmbH (Germany), 
  • Grow the Planet (Italy). 
Agreenium members involved
  • Agrocampus Ouest, AgroParis Tech
  • Cirad
  • Montpellier SupAgro
Aim
The Urban Green Train (UGT) project aims to encourage pioneering business oriented initiatives on Urban Agriculture (UA) based on knowledge exchange, mutual cooperation and innovation among SMEs, policy makers and Higher Education Institutions as to meet the global demand for urban green innovation (environmental technologies, eco-friendly products and services, sustainable design and healthy food). 
The project’s general objective is thus to strengthen the knowledge triangle between Education, Research and Business in the field of urban agriculture and more specifically: 
  • to raise awareness of potential employers and entrepreneurs for enabling the environment for green economy; 
  •  to innovate curricula and learning methods in Higher Education, expanding existing forms of University-Society-Business Cooperation and crossing sectoral, disciplinary and national boundaries; 
  • to build capacity of youth to create their own business; 
  • to respond to the EU labor market need of highly qualified and entrepreneurial graduates in this field; 
  • to increase awareness on the role of new green enterprises in creating more sustainable cities from the side of local governments, consumers and other actors.  
Expected achievements
  • a pilot course to provide a useful toolbox for anybody looking to operate directly or indirectly in the world of urban agriculture. It offers a complete and structured training pathway tackling all aspects relevant to this new way of doing business in agriculture. 
  • the course is open to different types of learners: Urban Agriculture professionals, entrepreneurs and workers (employed or unemployed), HEIs students, researchers and staff, NGOs staff and workers, but also representatives of local authorities and public officials, and more in general all persons interested in urban green innovation. 
  • the course represents the testing phase of a newly designed eLearning course on urban agriculture, which includes 5 modules for a total duration of 150h: 
                       - Module 1: Introduction into urban agriculture concept and types 
                       - Module 2: Resource use from a challenge perspective 
                       - Module 3: Urban agriculture types/production systems and short food chains 
                       - Module 4: Networking and Governance 
                       - Module 5: The world of business and urban demands 
  • a UA educational offer inventory providing a useful overview of the different European training pathways in this sector 
  • a UA enterprises inventory including innovative business models, good practices of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)/SME/CITY cooperation, key areas and innovation trends.   

Agreenium’s role
  • carry out mapping, surveys, interviews and case studies in France, coordinate surveys on existing training opportunities/ capacities and draw a common document presenting, analyzing and comparing the results; 
  • develop the online inventory of training opportunities; 
  • undertake a training needs analysis of the project target groups; 
  • contribute to drafting the methodology guidelines; 
  • create the “Food and non-food UA production” module; 
  • lead the activity of development of educational resources; 
  • translate the final modules and resources in French; 
  • elaborate and deliver the Attendance Certificates to pilot course participants; 
  • organize the Urban Green Train Final International Conference in Paris in the frame of both the Landscape and Urban Horticulture and the Education, Research, Consultancy and Training commissions of ISHS, linking research and education, in order to present the results to an international audience of stakeholders and representatives of HEIs, SMEs, NGOs and PA. 

Project manager for Agreenium
Rémi Kahane (Cirad)