Animal welfare, competence and cooperation between learning locations

Background and Objective

The agricultural sector is facing major challenges, not only due to structural changes, but also because of increased societal demand for higher animal welfare levels and a shift in values towards more sustainable food production. These shifts are accompanied by political decisions. With regard to vocational training – particularly for agricultural training staff - there is a tension between increasing requirements for technical and methodological skills. This especially applies to methodological and content-related requirements for the appropriate use of media and in relation to the topics of animal welfare and animal protection.

Project objectives
On the one hand, training modules, teaching-learning settings and a toolbox will be developed, tested and evaluated in order to enable animal welfare-oriented and pedagogical professionalization of vocational training staff. On the other hand, structures for cooperation between the learning locations in agricultural apprenticeship are being created in a way that animal welfare and competence-oriented training in the agricultural sector is established and strengthened in the long term, including supra-regionally.

Target Group

• Farmers
• Trainers on farms, in inter-farm education and in vocational schools

Approach

In the initial phase the project team evaluates and analyses the current state of pedagogical professionalization among farm education staff and the farm as a learning location. Then the project team fosters and supports the development of cooperative structures between learning locations in agriculture as an example of best practice. Furthermore, the project entails designing and piloting training modules and teaching/learning situations (face-to-face, online and blended learning formats) for vocational training staff. Action- -oriented and competence-focused didactic approaches and teaching/learning methods serve as the foundation for advancing animal welfare-oriented practices in vocational training. Throughout the project, a toolbox will be developed to empower training staff to devise animal welfare centred and competence-oriented teaching and learning concepts. At the same time, the project aims to establish regional cooperation between learning venues and structures in line with the train-the-trainer concept.

The educational modules are intended to be integrated in the vocational education of farmers and vocational training staff. All materials and concepts will be made accessible on the digital learning platform of the LBZ Echem. Educational modules, teaching-learning situations and a toolbox will be adapted for implementation to other federal states.

Preliminary Results

The project started in October 2024, thus there are no results available yet.