New skills in the agri-food sector of Western Balkans
As lead partner of the project Foresight analysis of the agri-food sector in the Western Balkans, FGB is supporting the European Training Foundation (ETF) to conduct a foresight study on the future of the agri-food sector in the Western Balkans.
Renowned for its rich food production history and proximity to the EU market, the region is poised for significant growth in the agri-food sector, due to global shifts towards sustainability and digitalisation.
The study has started in October 2023, and will be carried out until December 2024 across six Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. It focuses on two key areas: "agri-tech", which includes both digital and biochemical innovations, and "organic and functional foods".
Titled Skilling up the Western Balkans agri-food sector: digitalising, greening, the study aims to create a comprehensive vision and roadmap for skills' development in the agri-food sector in the Western Balkans by the year 2035. To achieve this, FGB is conducting a detailed foresight exercise, engaging various stakeholders through workshops and collaborative discussions. The first workshop successfully took place in Skopje on 6 December 2023, as part of a broader networking event organised by ETF.
In collaboration with ETF, FGB's research team will lead two online workshops on 21 and 28 February 2024. These sessions will aim to outline a strategic roadmap, focusing on skills' development in the agri-food sector up to 2035. It will also provide the opportunity to discuss emerging professional profiles and the transformation which the existing ones are undergoing, in line with the anticipated skill shifts.
The research work is led for FGB by Liga Baltina, in collaboration with ErreQuadro and the Institute of Employment Research at the University of Warwick.
