Abstract:

The European Union (EU) has made considerable efforts to shift towards more sustainable agriculture. Both the European Green Deal and the new EU Common Agricultural Policy strive to achieve sustainability at the social, environmental and economic levels and set different goals, among which securing a fair income and a stable economic future for farmers, supporting rural communities and the essential role of agriculture in wider society, increasing competitiveness and supporting the digital transition in agriculture.

Digital marketing has transformed how companies communicate with their customers around the world. However, the lack of digital communication skills is typical of rural areas, characterised by weak technological infrastructure, high costs of technology, and low levels of literacy. New tools and training initiatives are necessary to create a sense of community and promote a more sustainable agri-food value chain, while at the same time promoting their products and regaining access to new niche markets.

The Sustagri4.0 project is promoted by the European Commission through Erasmus+ Programme (2021-2-IE01-KA220-VET-000049494) and its core aim is to promote more sustainable agriculture and support sustainable agriculture businesses in their transition to Agriculture 4.0. This project purposes at supporting local producers and sustainable agricultural business owners in the take-up of the twin transition (green and digital) for their business, through a tailored learning path combining digital skills, marketing skills and storytelling techniques. Sustagri4.0 intends to strengthen key skills in initial and continuing Vocational Education and Training (VET), by creating future-oriented curricula that better meet the needs of individuals, enabling them to be a true agent of positive change and creating a more favourable mindset towards digital tools and techniques as the first step towards a deeper digitalisation of their businesses.

This contribution highlights the results of the needs analysis, which is essential to understand the needs of current and future farmers, and further conform adequate training pathways and resources. In particular, results of multi-perspective research on best practices to get inspired by novel and updated experiences, along with the conduction of focus groups are reported, built on the cornerstones of sustainability, digitalization, and entrepreneurship.

Acknowledgements:
The authors acknowledge funding from the European Commission, through the Erasmus+ program, by the SUSTAGRI4.0 Project: Digital marketing to promote sustainability in the agri-food industry, with reference 2021-2-IE01-KA220-VET-000049494.

Keywords:

Agriculture 4.0, digital skills, marketing, sustainability.