Today we’re updating you about CoVE Italy, part of AgriFood4Future (AF4F)!

💡 What is a CoVE?

CoVE stands for Centre of Vocational Excellence and it is a transnational network promoted by Erasmus+ that brings together vocational education and training providers, businesses, research centres and local authorities into a genuine skills ecosystem.

🎯 The goal?

To make vocational training a driver of innovation, regional development and social inclusion, ensuring high-quality skills that meet the real needs of the labour market and the green 🌍 and digital 💻 transitions.

🚜Who are we?

CoVE Italy, developed within the Erasmus+ project AgriFood4Future, is coordinated by Clust-ER Agrifood and already brings together a number of members, including co-founders Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Phorma Mentis and Centoform. Together, we work to connect different players – farms, technical advisors, schools, universities and research centres – around a shared goal, building a platform for dialogue where knowledge, experience and best practices can be shared to shape training and upskilling pathways that are ever closer to the real needs of the agrifood sector. Our ambition is to become a shared reference point for innovation, sustainability and new skills for the agriculture of the future. Right now our focus is regional, centred on Emilia-Romagna, but in the future the network could expand to other regions, thanks to ongoing synergies with European projects and local innovation networks.

📌 What are we working on?

Over these first three years of CoVE, we’ve contributed to several project activities aimed at developing the skills of “farmers of the future.” The first steps helped us identify the main skills required by the local labour market, with results available in a national factsheet  that guided the definition of 4 VET curricula now being implemented in Italy, Spain and Greece. Identifying training needs will remain a key focus for CoVE going forward, with the establishment of a permanent observatory working alongside existing regional initiatives.

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore has launched a semester exchange programme for bachelor’s and master’s students, with 2 different curricula dedicated to sustainability and resource valorisation, in partnership with the University of Porto in Portugal, VIVES in Belgium and AgroParisTech in France; the first UCSC student will begin this exciting international experience in September 2026. Several Italian companies have also opened positions on the project’s mobility platform (https://agrifood4future.com/mobility/) to host international students for 1-6 month internships. Internationalisation is clearly one of the key levers for showcasing the talent and excellence of the local agrifood ecosystem, something also highlighted by CoVE Italy’s participation in the international mission to Morocco, held in Casablanca last autumn.

📅  In September, Centoform, together with the University of Ferrara, will organise an 80-hour Summer School titled Geo Data Lab, focused on geospatial data analysis and its applications across various fields. During the first weeks of September, this will be the ideal setting to test the content of the Digital Skills course co-designed as part of the AgriFood4Future project, with a particular focus on Smart Farming and Field Operations and GIS Technologies.
Interested in this topic? Find more at the following link: https://centoform.it/portfolio/summer-school-unifetalentlink-geodata-lab-summer-school-in-analisi-dati-geografici-e-spaziali/ 

Starting in October, the digital skills, green skills and bioeconomy modules will also be tested within the ITS Food Sustainability courses – which train Higher Technicians for controls and certifications along agrifood supply chains – and Farm Manager – which trains Higher Technicians in digitalisation and sustainability for farm businesses – both delivered by Fondazione ITS Tech&Food Academy in partnership with Centoform.

🔔 Want to become part of CoVE Italy and stay updated?
👉 Check it out and sign up here: https://agrifood4future.com/ecosystem/coves/cove-italy/ 📩 or write to CoVE Italy: cove.italia@agrifood.clust-er.it

Follow us to stay on top of everything: workshops, webinars, networking opportunities and much more are already in the pipeline!