2025 - PSD "Green education for sustainable agriculture in Ukraine"

The overall purpose of the project

The project presented the knowledge and expertise of the Dutch agrifood and horticulture sectors in promoting sustainable food systems and creating social and economic opportunities in Ukraine.

In order to address the local needs, an expert group was created with the teachers from Agricultural Universities (partners of AgroKebety and its coordinators) and local businesses that are members of UCAB. This expert group studied the cases of EU countries on sustainable agriculture and used them for the development of the “study course + models for Ukraine” which were further incorporated into the curriculum of the local agricultural institutes.

Through communication with agricultural companies and farmers who are members of UCAB, the group of experts elaborated the local case studies to include in the teaching materials. Finally, through introduction of the developed modules into the existing curricula at least 12 Ukrainian universities participating at the Agrokebety project, the project provided to knowledge transfer capacity building in the field of sustainable agriculture in Ukraine and filled in the gap between priorities of the recently adopted policy and business needs on the way to the integration to the European Union (EU).

Result 1

At the first stage Association UCAB and the Wageningen University and Research agreed the structure and content of the new course “Regenerative Agriculture” and made an announcement for students from 12 “green” universities in different regions of Ukraine, primarily learning agronomy and ecology at master programmes.

The lectures were moderated by Alla Kravchenko, Anatoliy Tsyrkun and Oleksandr Radchenko from the Association UCAB under support of Dr. Bert Smit from the WUR side. All lectures were conducted in English with simultaneous translation into Ukrainian language that allowed to offer equal opportunities for all students who were interested in this topic. Through the digital platform ZOOM, they were able to choose language and also to write or ask their questions and opinions during the Q&A sessions. Active discussions helped to consolidate the material presented and adapt it to Ukrainian realities.

For better communication with students we used our Telegram channel “Agrokebety 2024-2025: all students” as well as groups of students at each of the partner universities. Students received announcement of each lecture with its general overview, the link to join as well as very useful pre-reads related to the topic of a lecture.  

After announcement of the course 225 participants registered and attended the lectures. The average number of on-line listeners at each lecture was 110 persons.

The novelty and importance of the topic of regenerative agriculture, as well as the high scientific level of the information presented by the professors and researchers of the Wageningen University and Research, attracted also great interest from the academic staff (lecturer) from the “green” universities, who also attended the course lectures. As a follow up, both WUR and Association UCAB received letters of appreciation from some lecturers. Read more

On-line course

To make the knowledge transfer sustainable and available for all students and academia community in Ukraine and broader, Association UCAB has recorded both English (original) and Ukrainian (simultaneously interpreted) streams of the 10 lectures and together with pre-reads and the presentations from WUR (when it was allowed) designed in an online course uploaded on the digital education platform AgrokebetyPRO. Upon successful completion of the final tests for each of the lectures, the platform offers students the opportunity to obtain a certificate in the relevant language.

Ukraine: WUR-AgroKebety Regenerative agriculture on-line course 

Planet Soil Documentary

The course was complemented by the translation of the documentary film “Planet.Soil” into Ukrainian language with subtitles. The course participants as well as other students at universities and colleges were provided with up to 200 unique codes with one-time access to watch the film. Association UCAB initiated also collecting feedbacks from the students and received 17 unique answers where students shared their impressions of the film, their thoughts on the importance of preserving the soil and life in it, and their opinions on best farming practices that can be used to preserve soil fertility. One of the students wrote: “The film “Planet.Soil” impresses with its visual presentation and depth of scientific approach, revealing the hidden life of the soil. It demonstrates the importance of soil ecosystems for agriculture and climate”.

Result 2

UCAB has set up a group of experts who represent both academia and agricultural companies/farms. The local expert group on sustainable agriculture discussed the curriculum development for a module on sustainable agriculture in Ukraine. The working group analysed the cases of European Union countries and the definition of applicable models for Ukraine.

UCAB coordinated this communication and involved external experts from the governmental agencies (Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine), FAO (local experts on sustainable agriculture), WUR, Future Farmers (Germany) to contribute in the discussion. We collected good feedbacks that were included in the discussion and the module composition.     

To hold a broader discussion UCAB organized a round table “Development of education module “Sustainable agriculture” for master programme “Agronomy” where over 70 representatives of universities, agribusiness, farmers, governmental agencies took part. The discussion was very open and interesting. After the round table UCAB team got a number of questions and feedbacks and continued the discussion through further activities with the local experts group.

Round table

To hold a broader discussion UCAB organized a round table “Development of education module “Sustainable agriculture” for master programme “Agronomy” where over 70 representatives of universities, agribusiness, farmers, governmental agencies took part. The discussion was very open and interesting. After the round table UCAB team got a number of questions and feedbacks and continued the discussion through further activities with the local experts group.

Today, Ukraine needs not only weapons, but also food. The Ukrainian agricultural sector is facing several challenges at the same time - war, climate change, as well as preparations for accession to the European Union. Therefore, it is important to integrate the principles of sustainable management into agricultural education to ensure that the Ukrainian agricultural sector meets the challenges of the present and the future- said Carolien Spaans, Agricultural Counsellor of the Embassy in Kyiv in her welcome speech. Read the report of the round table

Result 3

For the result 3: A study course on sustainable (regenerative) agriculture  is developed and recommended to the 12 Ukrainian agricultural universities to be included in the curricula.

It includes two modules – the first module is focused on general knowledge and international experience; the second module is focused on farming practices in sustainable (regenerative) farming in Ukraine.

To make the course more attractive for students UCAB team has initiated creation of a set of education webinars on best practices in sustainable (regenerative) farming in Ukraine where 5 lectures-webinars were presented:

1. Elements of resources and energy efficient technologies: strip-till
2. Organic farming as a part of regenerative technologies in Ukraine
3. Introduction of resource efficiency technologies at the farm
4. Regenerative agriculture: new tendencies in farming
5. Practices of regenerative agriculture at the private farm

All these webinars were recorded and included as case studies at the course on sustainable agriculture. The webinars are also uploaded on the digital agricultural platform AgrokebetyPRO Всі курси | Агрокебети

Project deliverables

1. 10 online lectures on Regenerative Agriculture including Q&A-sessions, still available as videos after the completion of the project on the AgrokebetyPRO platform; the lectures are available in English but also translated into Ukrainian language.
2. Pre-reads to these lectures, giving students the opportunity to read more extended and detailed information already before the respective lectures were given.
3. Assessment test for the course which will let universities to include the credits received by students after completing this course.
4. Mini course “Sustainable/regenerative practices of farming in Ukraine” included as practical study cases in the module and available on the education platform “AgrokebetyPRO”
5. Syllabus for the module “Regenerative agriculture” developed by the group of Ukrainian experts and recommended by UCAB to be included in the curricula of 12 Ukrainian agricultural universities.  

UCAB will continue support Ukrainian universities through linking them with agribusiness and farmers in Ukraine and abroad. It will give the academia more real practical knowledge and allow them to offer better programmes for students.

All deliverables produced within this project will be available for students, teachers and broader audience openly and without any charge.

UCAB has developed and applied for a follow up project with a focus on vocational education as it becomes a significant challenge for Ukraine to train more vocational professionals for agriculture.