Project Description
The agricultural workforce must adapt to new realities brought by climate change, emerging technologies, and an aging workforce. The FAI is researching and developing new training materials that support individuals who are currently employed in or beginning their careers in the agri-food sector, to understand the challenges and opportunities facing agri-food systems in Canada and abroad. Focus is placed on the development of applied and technical skills, entrepreneurial education, as well as systems thinking. Leveraging funding from the Royal Bank of Canada and the B.C. Centre for Agri-Tech Innovation, the FAI has undertaken engagement for developing training in vertical agriculture and urban food systems. Future work will develop training materials for ag-tech, agri-business, agri-food systems, and urban agriculture.
The Canadian Agriculture and Agri-food Micro-credential Landscape
In this work, the researcher reviewed the current agriculture and agri-food micro- credential offerings currently available across Canada. The researcher examined the most common micro-credential programs (i.e. suites of certifiable courses under a single program ‘theme’), course topics, as well as the cost and delivery method for each, using publicly available website data. This was with the goal to define the organization and potential administration of agriculture and agri-food micro- credentials to be offered at the University of the Fraser Valley.
Glaros, A. (2024). The Canadian Agriculture and Agri-food Micro-credential Landscape. University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, Canada.
Vertical Agriculture Education Workshop Report
This workshop series engaged agriculture industry professionals, students, government agency representatives, food-related NPO staff, and academics in British Columbia to identify key topics and learning approaches for the development of vertical agriculture training materials and courses.
Dring, C., Cremer, A., Glaros, A., Pizzirani, S., Newell, R. & Newman, L. (2024). Vertical Agriculture Education Workshop Report. The University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC.
