A green and digital future for Western Balkan agri-food sector
Fondazione Brodolini continues supporting the European Training Foundation (ETF) in the foresight study on the future of the agri-food sector in the Western Balkans, as lead partner of the project Foresight analysis of the agri-food sector in the Western Balkans.
On 6 and 7 June 2024, the third foresight exercise was held at ETF's offices in Turin, and an important milestone was reached in the study Skilling up the Western Balkans agri-food sector: digitalising, greening. The initiative gathered Western Balkan region stakeholders, including companies in the agri-food industry, education and training providers, knowledge transfer experts, policymakers, and peer learning partners from EU member states, working collectively to shape the future of the agri-food sector in the region.
The workshop aimed to identify areas of improvement for the policy landscape and develop practical recommendations to support efforts in closing the current and future skills gaps in the agri-tech and organic and functional food sub-sectors.
Emphasis was given to improving cooperation and enhancing the capacity of key stakeholders to realise a strong regional skills ecosystem.
On the first day of the workshop, FGB experts facilitated the interactive sessions to streamline and discuss the four priority areas of action identified during the previous foresight workshops, namely: building a supportive ecosystem for skills development; identifying curricula development requirements and supporting knowledge transfer; encouraging company participation in upskilling and reskilling; collaborating with educational authorities to tailor skills provision to labour market needs.
The second day of the event was devoted to analysing and improving the provisional ideas for projects and initiatives to further reinforce cooperation among regional stakeholders and peer learning partners in the agri-food sector.
The foresight exercise will reach its conclusions in September 2024, with the development of the final foresight report on the future skills needs of the agri-food sector in the Wester Balkan region.
