UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE
TRAINING COURSE
Resilient Agriculture for Rural Development
1-15 October 2024
The reports of FAO on the State of Agriculture often suggest the need to build a resilient agriculture at world level. Broadly speaking, resilience can be defined as the dynamic capacity to continue to achieve goals despite disturbances. Resilience concerns the ability of individuals, communities, institutions, systems and societies to prevent, anticipate, absorb, adapt and transform positively and effectively when faced with a wide range of risks, without compromising long-term prospects for sustainable development and well-being for all. The FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme, aims to identify and safeguard agricultural sites which have survived using traditional techniques, still providing many ecosystem services, while maintaining landscapes, agricultural biodiversity, ancestral knowledge, and cultural and social values. Today, 86 sites have been designated as GIAHS sites in 4 continents. Traditionala agriculture may not provide very high yields, but ensures sustainable yields over time, being more sustainable and less polluting than industrial techniques, as it has to rely on local and sometimes scarce resources (water, soil, etc.) with low external energy inputs.
This type of agriculture, that is often linked with small scale farms, is often the only way of cultivating areas not suited for industrialised agriculture, such as mountain areas or areas where climatic conditions require specific adaptation strategies. The development of these areas can be achieved by fostering a “competitive identity” based on a concept of quality integrating the whole set of landscape resources taking into consideration tourism as part of the rural economy. Landscape resources represent a unique factor of competitiveness for each country or region that cannot be reproduced by a competitor in another country. Therefore, preserving traditional landscapes is an economic action equivalent in importance to increased or improved production. Although traditional agricultural practices are usually labour intensive, GIAHS are also particularly suited to help address the many challenges, across the value chain that small producers, and even small economies face, improving inclusiveness by linking smallholder producers with supply chains for their effective and sustainable participation in global, regional and national markets.
OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
In the framework of the “GIAHS Building Capacity” project, financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) coordinated by the University of Florence (Italy), and in cooperation with the UNESCO Chair on Agricultural Heritage Systems, a 15-days Training Course entitled Resilient Agriculture for Rural Development will be organized in September-October 2024.
The structure of the course is based on frontal classes (48 hours), as well as on three field visits in Italy. The course is based on the topics of the FAO GIAHS Programme and on sustainable rural development. Teachings will address the following topics: rural development, sustainable innovations, traditional materials, water harvesting, agroecology, traditional food valorization, the GIAHS programme and its opportunities.
The attendance of at least 90% of the activity hours is mandatory to obtain the final certification.
The Training Course will be held at PIN headquarters, in Prato, a city in the suburban area of Florence, in front of the Prato Porta al Serraglio train station that connects Prato and Florence in less than 30 minutes.
The course is open to a maximum of 15 officials and professionals coming from the Countries of the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development (AICS). AICS will totally cover the cost of travel, accommodation in Prato (Italy), food, VISA, field visits in Italy, for the 15 selected participants.Participants are expected to arrive in Italy on 27-28 September 2024.
Applications for 2024 course are closed!
The ranking of the admitted participants will be published at the end of April 2024.
