Conventional agriculture production has been undertaken with heavy reliance on non-renewable resources, resulting in numerous agricultural burdens such as soil degradation, water run-off, pollution, degraded biodiversity and landscape image, and escalating production costs. Public awareness of the irreversible damage done to the environment has led to calls for a more responsible attitude towards our natural heritage.


In addition, consumers' fears, triggered by food scares and technological developments such as genetic modification and food irradiation, have been translated into serious concern about food safety and ever-increasing demands for quality assurance and more information about production methods.

Against this background, OA has gained increasing popularity. It combines traditional conservation-minded farming methods with modern farming technologies and relies more on in-farm inputs instead of external ones, while rejecting synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. However, organic farming is still hampered by lack of clarity: both consumers and agricultural professionals are not always sure what OA is, what its benefits are, which products are covered by OA, and which restrictions OA implies.

This is the reason why the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming (2004) has identified the need for actions supporting the training and education of all stakeholders related to OA, covering aspects related to production, processing, and marketing of OA products and their benefits. It also seeks to promote OA products as the preferred option for both producers and consumers.

The European Commission, through its strategic Action Plan and a number of funded initiatives under the 6th Framework Program, has aimed at support and further understanding of OA concepts and methods, and at the cultivation of a consumer culture that will facilitate the development of the OA products market.


In addition, large international organizations such as the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), as well as non-profit associations such as the UK's Soil Association, drive their own awareness and education initiatives for the promotion of OA methods and practices around the world.

Furthermore, agricultural universities around the world have included OA-related and Agro-ecology courses in their educational programs, aiming to prepare agricultural professionals so that they can appropriately support and guide farmers through the selection and adoption of OA methods.

Recent European and national initiatives have focused on training farmers on principles and methods of OA based on relevant eLearning content in digital format. Such initiatives have various goals and are implemented in different socio-cultural and linguistic contexts. For instance, they may aim at promoting OA and educating producers, farmers, and consumers about its benefits, or at training agricultural professionals in the theory, methods, and practices of OA.

On the other hand, these constitute dispersed training efforts that do not follow a quality-certified training process and whose exploitation in actual training scenarios in European, national, regional, local, or sectoral training systems and practices remains to be seen. Existing eLearning content can be appropriately adapted, transferred, and validated in order to support lifelong learning of agricultural professionals in regard to OA and sustainable and environmental friendly management of resources.