On Thursday 05/11/2020, the first online meeting of the Erasmus+ project SmartROOT: Smart faRming innOvatiOn Training was held. The project is implemented in the framework of the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships.
The SmartROOT project, which is coordinated by the Associate Professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Western Macedonia Sarigiannidis Panagiotis, includes 7 partners. The SmartROOT project partners are comprised of 3 Universities (University of Western Macedonia – Greece, International Hellenic University – Greece and Sveriges LnatbruksUniversitet – Sweden) and 4 companies (Sidroco Holdings Limited – Cyprus, Federacion Espanola de Indurrtias de la Alimentacion y Bebidas – Spain, INFALIA Private Company – Greece and AGRIVI doo za Proizvodnju, Trgovinu Iusluge – Croatia).
Guided by the necessity for the reduction of the environmental effects from the agricultural and livestock, one of the main pillars of the European agricultural policy, SmartROOT project has two main targets. The first target is to train the students regarding smart farming and climate smart farming systems, to tackle climate change and its effects in agriculture and food security aiming to create synergies between mixed farming systems. Furthermore, SmartROOT pursues the familiarization of primary sector professionals, who promote the circular economy in farms or large agricultural areas.
Towards the aforementioned goals, the 7 participants from four countries participating in the SmartROOT project will work together to develop digital tools for the proper management of agricultural and livestock units along with the preparation of students with the appropriate theoretical background for this field. Essentially SmartROOT project will relay the technical know-how acquired through the participation of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in a significant number of European and national programs in the field of smart agriculture and its international recognition in this field.
The completion of the project will result in the creation of an international Joint Master Degree for the utilization of the results of the project but also for the promotion of the educational process in the fields of smart and climate smart agriculture.