For several months the LIVINGAGRO project partners have been working on the development of the project ICT platform serving Mediterranean stakeholders of the agroforestry sector with particular reference to multifunctional olive systems and grazed woodlands. The portal is now online since several months and offers a series of services and interaction opportunities: let's discover more in depth what this innovative tool is and what it concretely offers with particular reference to online training.

What is the LIVINGAGRO platform?

The portal has been created in order to facilitate transfer of knowledge and interaction between the different actors including economic operators, research representatives, institutional representatives at different level (international, national and local), professionals, citizens and many other categories of potential users. Moreover, concerning the approach, the tool promotes an open innovation methodology in a Living Laboratory environment, moving beyond traditional scientists’ laboratories to make a difference through cooperation in the field, the marketplace, conferences, workshops, one-on-one discussions, and online interactions.

What can the portal offer and to whom?

Everyone involved with multifunctional olive systems (olive growing) and grazed woodlands is invited to enter the two dedicated LIVINGAGRO cross-border Living Laboratories by registration on the platform in order to explore innovations in agroforestry through free online classes, newsletters, online discussion forums, and a wealth of other events and information sources. LIVINGAGRO’s Living Labs environment, accessible via the platform upon registration, are active collaborations among farmers, agri-food company staff, local authorities, researchers, innovators, and other stakeholders in order to identify common problems in the real world and then find and share innovative solutions.

These platform-driven collaborations can provide the users with many practical advantages:

•     Find out new ways to increase farms’ income
•     Learn how to reduce farming expenses
•     Discover innovations that can help improve products
•     Access free e-learning modules and training courses
•     Explore the way agroforestry helps farmers, farms, and the planet
•     Investigate catalogues of innovations and scientific resources
•     Connect with innovators and stakeholders online or face-to-face.

Moreover, the platform includes the following sections and related services:

• Experts section, where users can e-meet agricultural engineers, consultants, trainers, researchers or project managers. The team is made up of passionate people, united above all by the same desire to think differently about agriculture for farmers, producers and consumers;

• News & Events section where users can discover and learn more about the latest and upcoming project activities, ouputs, capitalization experiences and collaborations with other projects as well as initiatives;
   

• Education section where business and e-learning courses may be accessed addressing a high number of topics (enrollement upon registration);

• Forum, where to exchange information and connect with other community members upon registration.

About e-learning opportunities

Concerning the newly launched online training, stakeholders involved in the Agroforestry sector and in particular with Multifunctional Olive Systems and Grazed Woodlands, are now invited to explore the first series of e-learning modules available for free on the ICT Platform in English (soon also the Arabic, Italian and Greek versions will be made availalbe).

The e-courses were prepared by experts of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) and edited by the Greek partner, the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (CIHEAM – MAICh), and are organized in two modules dedicated, respectively, to Living Lab 1 (LL1, Multifunctional Olive Systems) and Living Lab 2 (LL2, Grazed Woodlands). Different modules are already available for each of the Living Lab which do focus on the following issues: traditional land uses, the effect of agroforestry on biodiversity, the effect of agroforestry on biological control of olive pests, agroforestry’s effect on olive diseases and others for Living Lab 1; tree species for Grazed Woodlands and related species selection criteria; agroforestry for soil and water conservation in grazed woodlands; animal welfare in grazed/browsed woodlands; effect of agroforestry on the biodiversity of the grazed woodlands; agroforestry's effect on honey bee populations and honey production; socio-economic considerations of Agroforestry for grazed woodlands; success stories referring to silvopastoral systems for Living Lab 2. In the next few weeks and months other e-learning courses will be uploaded and made available for register users focusing on LIVINGAGRO innovations, field experimentation and other theme-related issues.

Still any doubt about subscribing to the LIVINGAGRO platform through the two dedicated Living Labs? Registration is fully FREE !

Discover all the functionalities and services offered by our new project tool and enroll to the new online courses at the following page:

https://livingagrolab.eu