Nuertingen-Geislingen University introduces dual agricultural degree programs in the Western Balkans
( Universiteti Nuertingen Geislingen zhvillon arsimin e lartë Dual në vendet e Ballkanit Perëndimor.)
NUERTINGEN (NGU). Nürtingen-Geislingen University (NGU) is advancing practice-oriented studies by introducing dual agricultural degree programs in the Western Balkans.
In a project of the Erasmus+ program, funded by the European Commission with one million euros and coordinated by the HfWU, agricultural studies in the Western Balkan region are being reformed in cooperation with two Albanian and two Kosovar universities as well as the Finnish Savonia University. The aim is to make agricultural studies more practice-oriented. To this end, two new dual courses of study are being developed and introduced at the partner universities.
HfWU has applied to the European Commission with this project for 2020. A total of 164 projects were selected from more than 1000 project applications worldwide at the beginning of the year. HfWU is one of a total of only 14 German universities coordinating such a project.
In addition to the universities mentioned above, the project entitled “Dual Curricula – Study and Work Practice in Agriculture and Food Safety (DualAFS)” involves a total of six practical partners and business associations from the Western Balkan region, which are potential employers for the students.
Based on the model of the dual study program “Agribusiness” at HfWU, the two bachelor study programs “Agribusiness” and “Animal Husbandry and Food Safety” will be developed within the project and introduced at the partner universities from 2022. The courses are characterized by the fact that practical phases in companies of the agricultural and food industry are directly integrated into the studies.
During the three-year project period, further training measures for teachers will also be carried out and new teaching materials and e-learning materials will be developed.
After only online events could be held so far due to the Corona conditions, the project partners now met for the first time in presence at the HfWU in Nürtingen. Under the leadership of HfWU Professor Heinrich Schüle, the individual project activities were planned and scheduled in detail at this coordination meeting of the project consortium. “We are particularly guided by the experiences in Germany and at HfWU to develop a dual study program in agricultural economics. It would be the first in Albania,” says Prof. Dr. MyqeremTafaj from the Agricultural University of Tirana.
