Launch of the European Project Sustainable Agriculture Training for Professionals – SAGRIT.
The Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) hosted the kick-off meeting of the project SAGRIT – Sustainable AGRIculture Training for professionals (Grant Agreement 101183278 ERASMUS-EDU-2024-CB-VET), which is funded under the ERASMUS+ Capacity Building in Vocational Education and Training (CB-VET) program. The meeting took place in Athens, on December 1st and 2nd, 2025, with the physical presence of all partners from Greece, Italy, Spain, and Cuba.
The project, with a total budget of €400,000, aims to design, pilot, and institutionalize innovative lifelong training programs in climate-smart agriculture and animal production, emphasizing modern skills and methodologies such as precision farming, resource management, and the integration of digital technologies into the primary sector.
The main target groups include professionals from the agri-food sector, such as farmers, livestock breeders, feed producers, members of professional chambers and cooperatives, as well as freelancers. Through SAGRIT's implementation, the project aims to strengthen the capacities of agri-livestock professionals, making them key agents of change in promoting climate adaptation strategies and exchanging best practices across partner countries toward sustainable agriculture and animal production.
The project’s consortium consists of eight partner organizations:
- Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) – Coordinator (Greece)
- CRE.THI.DEV. – Creative Thinking Development NGO (Greece)
- Universita degli Studi di Torino (UNITO) (Italy)
- UNIVERSIDAD DE CAMAGUEY IGNACIO AGRAMONTE LOYNAZ (UC) (Cuba)
- UNIVERSIDAD AGRARIA DE LA HABANA "FRUCTUOSO RODRIGUEZ PEREZ" (UNAH) (Cuba)
- UNIVERSIDAD DE ARTEMISA “JULIO DIAZ GONZALEZ” (UART), (Cuba)
- Empresa Complejo Mayabeque S.A. (ECM) – Cuban Science & Technology Interface Organization (Cuba)
- UNIVERSIDAD DE ALCALA (UA), (Spain)
During the two-day meeting welcoming speeches were delivered by Prof. Eleni Tsiplakou, Dean of the School of Animal Biosciences, and Prof. Ioannis Politis, Director of the Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Husbandry. Also, the project’s objectives, deliverables, and timeline were presented and among the topics discussed were included dissemination actions, quality assurance, monitoring committees, pilot training activities, and the procurement and delivery of equipment to the Cuban partner universities. Furthermore, the first meeting of the Steering Committee was held. The participants had the opportunity to visit AUA facilities.
The presence of the Cuban partners underlined the importance of intercultural exchange and knowledge transfer between the EU and Latin America, with a shared goal of advancing green transition and resilience in agriculture and livestock farming in the face of climate change.
SAGRIT is expected to make a meaningful contribution to enhancing vocational training in Cuba, through the development of educational tools, equipment provision, training sessions, and collaborative actions with European universities.
Project Information
- Funding Authority: European Union (European Education and Culture Executive Agency)
- Project Coordinator: Agricultural University of Athens (Greece)
- Scientific Responsible of the project: Dr. George Laliotis (Ass. Professor), Department of Animal Science.
- Budget: 400,000 €
- Duration: 36 months
