New e-learning course online

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Sustainability in European agriculture can now be explored through a free e-lear
Sustainability in European agriculture can now be explored through a free e-learning course (photo: Fabienne Frey).
European agriculture faces complex sustainability challenges. A team of scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Agroscope, and the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam addressed these challenges in an interdisciplinary project. The project’s most important results can now be explored in an interactive e-learning course.

How can we produce enough food for a growing population and at the same time protect nature? Researchers from WSL, Agroscope, and VU Amsterdam teamed up to answer this question. In the scope of their Sustainable Intensification Pathways in Europe (SIPATH) project, the scientists assessed past changes in European agriculture and options for a sustainable future. Starting in 2019, they conducted interviews, surveys, and landscape mapping in 15 case study sites across Europe. Along the road, the idea emerged to make the results accessible in an interactive way. The research team hence condensed the most important results into an e-learning course , which has now been published.

The e-learning course consists of 6 hours of interactive material, covering a wide range of perspectives and disciplines. During the course, one gets to know the researchers and farmers through videos, learns about research methods from historical analysis to spatial analysis techniques, and gains insights into the results from surveys to big data. The e-learning course was tested with students at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam and revised based on the students’ feedback. With the help of additional documents , teachers can adapt and use components of the course content for their individual teaching needs. The material is not only suitable for university teaching on bachelor or master level, but anyone interested in the topic can take the course to learn more about sustainability in European agriculture.