An array of contemporary game-based learning methodologies towards the amelioration of Agro-entrepreneurship.

To address limited youth participation in the agricultural field, people need to have access to training that is relevant to the needs of the labor market, and furthermore to establish links with agro-businesses, so as to be able to find effective routes into employment. The provision of specialized agro-entrepreneurial training is one of the ways to achieve the above target, thus allowing people to gain direct access to the labor market in an environment that puts their development at its heart. The need to increase youth employability and competences in the context of the agro-entrepreneurial field in Europe is compelling, as currently for each farmer younger than 35 there are 5.6 farmers older than 65 in Europe, out of which only one in 5 young farmers has followed a full agricultural training cycle and over two thirds exercise this occupation out of practical experience (Eurostat, 2017).

Through the creation of this project, the three main expected end results are:

1. the modernization of the teaching/training material that youth organizations and youth centers tend to introduce in their daily routines and which are interwoven with the reinforcement of the field of agro-entrepreneurship;
2. the creation and empowerment of a new generation of agro-entrepreneurs, fully trained to tackle multiple modern challenges, able to come up with sustainable and structured solutions, thus creating their own agriculture enterprises;
3. a full exploitation of all the possibilities provided through the GBL processes, and especially through the Escape Games methodology, with the aim the latter to be converted into effective and efficient educational tools.

The objectives of the project are to:

• develop a culture of agro-entrepreneurship and innovation among young people;
• provide an innovative game-based learning model, with theoretical and practical methods that will motivate the young professionals in NGOs to commit to active learning;
• strengthen cooperation and exchange of information and good practices between different areas of Europe;
• promote the sustainable investment, quality and efficiency of education, training and youth systems across the project consortium countries;
• support the development of the EU as a knowledge-based society.

Intellectual Outputs:

• Guide “The educational bearing of Game-Based Learning in Agro-Entrepreneurship for the Youth Sector”. Creation of  a booklet that appeals to youth workers, trainers and educators who are dealing with entrepreneurially-oriented fields.
• Module: Escape Rooms/Break-out Boxes on Agro-Entrepreneurship
• Agro_EduGames Escape Card Game. Creation of  an escape card cooperative game which will empower youth to cultivate their competences in AE and tackle challenges encountered in the daily routines of agro enterprises.
• Agro_EduGames Booklet of Good Practices  presenting the trials, errors and successes throughout the project to help youth trainers grasp better the provision of AE education through GBL processes and the Escape Games methodology;

The following organizations are involved in the project: 

Coordinator: 

• Citizens In Power (Cyprus)

Partners:

• Challedu (Greece)
• DRAMBLYS (Spain)
• The Polish Farm Advisory and Training Centre not-for-profit (Poland).

On the website of the project Agro Edu-Games (https://agroedugames.com/) you will find news, activities, program results and updates, such as reports, event announcements, workshops and training sessions.

This project  has been co-funded by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union

Project Number: 2020-2-CY02-KA205-001870