NEXTFOOD

Centre for Agroecology and Public Health, University of Kerala in association with Welthungerhilfe (WHH) is partnering in the project ‘NEXTFOOD: Educating the next generation professionals in Agri-food systems’ funded by Horizon 2020, in which 19 partners from 13 countries in 3 continents are coming together, for a period of four years (May 2018 to May 2022), with a vision to enhance the co-creation of innovation and knowledge in agriculture, forestry and related food value chain.

NEXTFOOD employs case-based action research to develop relevant and effective education and training programmes for a transition to more sustainable agri-food and forestry systems, and to generate new knowledge needed for similar achievements beyond the specific case. Centre for Agroecology and Public Health, established as an offshoot of the initiative for doing action research in agroecology and public health as a case, contributes to research and development in the area. 

NEXTFOOD employs a case-based action research to develop relevant and effective education and training programmes for a transition to more sustainable agri-food and forestry systems, and to generate new knowledge needed for similar achievements beyond the specific case. Centre for Agroecology and Public Health, established as an offshoot of the initiative for doing action research in agroecology and public health as a case, contributes to research and development in the area.

NEXTFOOD drives the crucial transition to more sustainable and competitive agrifood and forestry systems development by designing and implementing education and training systems to prepare budding or already practising professionals with competencies to push the green shift in the rapidly changing society.

 The project,

-Challenges the linear view of knowledge transfer as a top-down process from research to advice and practice

– Supports the transition to more learner-centric, participatory, action-based and action-oriented education and learning

  -Solves real challenges related to sustainability together with researchers, students and other relevant stakeholders while developing both green technical skills and soft collaborative competencies

  – Assures quality in research and education by creating a peer-review system for evaluation of practice-oriented research outputs focusing on sustainability and practical usefulness

– Develops an international accreditation framework for education and training in fields relevant to sustainable agrifood and forestry systems in a cyclical manner, ensuring that the research process and actual case studies are ever-improving

  – Exemplifies how practice-oriented research can be instrumental to achieve better collaboration between university and society.