The demand for professional knowledge of milk processing has recently increased, which has been noted in every participating project consortium country. Increasing demand for dairy production training/education is mainly from farmers and their (family) members who are interested in on-farm dairy processing on a smaller scale. This trend is mostly a consequence of prices of milk falling considerably in recent decades to a point where farmers are not able to cover production costs and the only way to keep their farm alive is by adding value to their products by processing the milk into dairy products. Even the policymakers of the Common Agricultural Policy note, that the solution for farmers is to create added value for their products with on-farm processing of raw materials as a subsidiary farm activity. The main target groups of this project are Farmers and farm members; Workers in dairy production companies; Dairy production experts who wish to upgrade and share their expertise; and other interested individuals. Specific needs of these target groups were identified with the help of a survey conducted by BC Naklo, and by day to day work with target groups of other partners. According to the survey, our target group is willing to participate in an online course due to its availability, convenience, free access etc. Majority of people are interested in combining traditional with modern milk processing techniques. Furthermore, they expressed interest in innovative technology and modern products. However, the main need identified in all partner countries is simply to gain sufficient knowledge and skills to be able to process milk on their farms and to learn how to market their products efficiently. MILK-ed project has the following objectives:- To offer LEARNERS free access to the dairy processing course, which can be recognized as part of formal or non-formal (NVQ) education, which corresponds to their needs- To enable EXPERTS (teachers and trainers) in the field of dairy production exchange of knowledge and skills- To ENCOURAGE DIGITALISATION in participating organizations- To promote RURAL DEVELOPMENT, the existence of dairy farms, by encouraging farmers to participate in multifunctional and subsidiary activities on farmsThe main project results:- CASE STUDIES - EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM - Modern innovative milk processing CURRICULUM- TRAINING CONTENTS to be uploaded to the educational platform - 2 Learning, Teaching, Training activities - curriculum development workshop in Spain where we will design a draft curriculum as a framework for further reference. The second workshop will be carried out in Croatia as a study trip and the pilot filming of video materials. With MILK-ed project, we aim at developing a training programme that is going to equip farmers with the necessary knowledge, skills and competencies for the establishment of an on-farm dairy processing subsidiary activity. To ensure sustainability of small farms, the backbone of all rural areas, we need to provide farmers with knowledge and skills to diversify their farms to ensure they are not dependent on only one source of income. The training programme will be prepared with the cooperation of different partners – existing farmers and practitioners of on-farm dairy processing, professional dairy processors, farmers that are interested in establishing dairy processing on their farms (direct beneficiaries), training providers in agricultural VET and university researchers. That way we will be able to identify and address all the necessary training needs and prepare a tailored made training, which will lead to the creation of new successful on-farm dairy processing activities.In addition to this, the training programme will be designed and uploaded on an online Educational platform in English, Croatian, Italian, Serbian, Slovenian, and Spanish language and it will be freely available to all interested farmers and other actors. The training materials also will be uploaded on other OER repositories making them available to an even wider audience.The MILK-ed consortium is made of the following partners:BC Naklo (SI): A public educational institution COAG (ES): A professional farming organisationOnP (ES): A project management and project evaluation consulting enterpriseVUKA (HR): Karlovac University of Applied SciencesUNS (RS): University of Novi SadISIS TODI (IT): A public educational institutionBETI (LT): Educational technology institute

General aim of the AgriNext project is to create learning environment that responds to the skill demand on the job market in the field of Multifunctional Agriculture. In order to achieve this aim, the specific project objectives include: 1.Flexibilization of learning environments and curriculums in I-VET and C-VET, on EQF levels 3-6, in order to facilitate fast responses to job market demands 2.Teacher empowerment (continuous professional and pedagogical) for a fast response to the job market demands, 3.Established system of continuous exchange between employers, teacher/trainers/guidance service providers, in order to respond to the skills needed 4.To develop students/learners who are highly skilled, motivated, entrepreneurial and aware of the importance of C-VET and lifelong learning 5.Creating physical and virtual environment that enables: -Interaction between teachers, trainers, mentors from companies, students, and researchers; -Individualisation of the learning process; -Demonstration & try-outs of new technologies -Development of entrepreneurial activities 6.Promoting rural development & vitality by demonstrating and highlighting opportunities of Multifunctional Agriculture.7.Increasing digital competencies among students and teachersThe main expected results are: -Online training for guidance service providers for the use of new guidance service model-Online training for VET teachers for flexible learning processes-Proposals of flexibilization of VET -Green job = dream job video trailers-Established Incubators (business – education partnership) -AgriNext IT Platform for Rural Excellence Activities has been divided in to 5 implementation Work Packages:WP1–Guidance services to foster lifelong learning and development of VET skills in multifunctional agriculturalWP2–Flexibilization of school systemsWP3–Green job=dream jobWP4–Business incubator for rural excellenceWP5- AgriNext IT platform

<< Objectives >>SMARTER develops smart supply chain knowledge competences as well as transversal skills through experiential learning applications. 7 universities from Spain, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Croatia, Romania and Argentina as well as 2 business development organisations (IRE, ESP) deliver digital learning material, innovation created in industry-university collaboration, as well as formative assessment tools for sustainable learning methods realising the 'Internationalisation at home' principle.<< Implementation >>University students will conduct a digital maturity gap analysis within the target businesses to create the framework for the core learning activity - the SMARTER Student Challenge, organised in Ireland in April 2024. Work packages 4-6 will prepare the Smart Material, Money, and Info flow to support the student challenge by using simulations, serious gaming, webinars and online workshops. The in-person workshop will be realised as a collaborative industry-university knowledge creation event.<< Results >>The final conference in Croatia in June 2025 will present the research publication of the digital maturity gap analysis, smart supply chain learning material, the experiential learning tools, the best practices learned from the student challenge, and feedback and reflection documents from student, educators and target group representatives as well as formal curricula integration opportunities. SMARTER achievements are also published in Social Media throughout the progress of the SMARTER project.