Participation of the Rector of the Agricultural University of Athens at the Delphi Economic Forum IX Annual Meeting

On Wednesday, April 10 2024, the Rector of the Agricultural University of Athens, Mr. Spyridon Kintzios, Professor, took part in the Delphi Economic Forum IX Annual Meeting, more precisely, into the panel discussion organised by diaNEOsis, entitled “Prospects and Challenges in the Primary Production Sector”. It is noteworthy that the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Mr. Eleftherios Avgenakis, the CEO of athiNEA, Ms. Marianna Skylakaki, the Researcher at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Mr. Theodoros Benos, along with the CEO of GAIA EPICHEIREIN, Ms. Elli Tsiforou, have participated in that debate.

            It is also noticeable that the Rector of AUA, in relation to a question about the issue of education and scientific information of the rural manpower in Greece nowadays, as well as the topic of adoption of modern technologies into the production procedure of the Greek agricultural domain, posed by the Coordinator and  Research Director of diaNEOsis, Ms. Fay Makantasi, has featured the acceleration of the processes pertaining to the establishment and functioning of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), with a view to promptly implementing redesigning, not only of the Training Programs (besides including retraining) of the Consultants involved, but also of the Education Programs of the producers and the rural population in general, inasmuch the necessity of the direct updating of the Training Programs of the producers and the agricultural community, as a whole.

Subsequently, the Rector, Mr. Spyridon Kintzios, has highlighted the importance of experiental learning, which can be achieved, probably, by means of concluding agreements with progressive producers, who can provide their holdings for trainings, taking into consideration the utilization of demo - farms and other actions foreseen, in combination with the upgrading of the Study Programs and the educational material, comprising the increase in the training hours, too.

On top of that, the Rector has proposed the fostering of the institution of the Chambers of Agriculture, following the example set in France and Austria, since the foundation of Chambers shall facilitate the provision of counselling and educational services towards the producers and the population living in rural communities, while the Cooperatives are to play a crucial role in that scheme of things.

All the interested parties may visit the link provided below, in order to keep abreast of the relative positions taken at the Delphi Economic Forum IX Annual Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqAIYXgZGx8