Conference Agenda

Within the framework of the ongoing European research project AGRITECH EU (grant agreement number: 101123258), good practices are applied aiming to optimize the content and structure of the agricultural engineering education at post-graduate level. In this context, this paper presents basic directions and experimental evidence regarding the utilization of modern technological advancements in the area of AI, IoT and Robotics to foster the agricultural engineering education. More specifically, widely available application programming environments, such as Arduino IDE and MIT App Inventor, are combined with low-cost microcontrollers and single board-computes and AI cloud services to improve the perceptions of the participants about key importance functions related with physical process emulation and monitoring, remote human-machine interaction, digital twins, augmented reality and artificial intelligence principles. Starting with small in-scale university laboratory settings, actions are escalating incorporating larger new elements as well as retired electromechanical components resting in the university campus. The first evaluation results of these activities reflect the applicability and the pedagogical value of integrating recent technological tools into the agricultural engineering education university curricula. Their positive contribution to enhancing the professional prospects of the participating graduate students were clearly verified through in-purpose survey evaluation.

This paper presents the "International Masterclass in Biobased and Natural Resources for Green Energy Production", an advanced skill training program developed within the transnational education initiative TNE "Academic Collaboration through Higher International Education for a Viable and Equitable Africa with Italy – ACHIEVE-IT".

The Masterclass aims to equip participants with specialized knowledge in the production of green energy from biological and natural sources, as well as its implementation in small and medium-sized agricultural and agrifood production contexts located in rural and marginal areas. The program focuses on the valorization of agricultural and agrifood by-products by exploring their conversion into renewable energy through biological, mechanical, and physical processes.

The Masterclass is addressed to researchers, academic staff, and professionals from the African institutions partnering in the ACHIEVE-IT project. The course is delivered through a blended learning approach, effectively combining in-person sessions with online activities to maximize accessibility and engagement.

Beyond its technical curriculum, the Masterclass serves as a platform for meaningful academic and cultural exchange. It offers participants exposure to cutting-edge learning methodologies while simultaneously enabling partner universities and institutions to forge new collaborations and strengthen existing ones. Ultimately, the program aims to establish a foundation for sustainable, long-term partnerships in research and teaching.

The Digital Forest Lab Haselberg is a learning platform by the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE). It is based on a forest living lab that was digitally reconstructed into a virtual tour, enabling users to explore it remotely. The resulting digital forest tour consists of interactive 360° stations organized into chapters: Fundamentals of Forest Ecosystems, Forest Management and Forest Perspectives. These chapters cover topics such as tree species identification, soil science, forest inventories, management strategies and biodiversity conservation. The platform supports education for sustainable development by combining interdisciplinary knowledge from forestry, ecology, wildlife management and nature conservation. It promotes self-assessment of knowledge, engagement with diverse multimedia learning formats, critical reflection on societal debates about forestry, visual analysis of management practices and scientific training. Interactive elements encourage self-directed learning and increase student motivation through gamified exploration. The platform is complemented by field data from wildlife cameras, laser scanning, data loggers and dendrometers and it includes additional projects like laser-based inventory, long-term experimental plots, growth monitoring and deep-learning-based detection of dead trees. By linking research and teaching, the Digital Forest Lab creates a dynamic educational environment for experiential learning and showcases digital technologies in modern forest science.

The objective of the joint technical network BATICE is to serve as a national platform dedicated to research, knowledge exchange, and innovation in livestock buildings, addressing the growing complexity of design choices in a context of climate change, societal expectations, energy transition and animal welfare. This network focuses on livestock buildings for different animal production (poultry, equine, pigs, and cattle). It aims to federate scientific and technical knowledge and support farmers in their transitions. The work program 2026–2030 is organized around four main axes: stimulating research and innovation through project mapping and emergence of new themes; integrating transition factors into building design using multi-criteria assessment; strengthening education through collaboration with associated experts, co-construction of pedagogical resources, updating a digital resource center, and networking with teaching farms. The results of the previous program (2021–2025) enhanced a solid collective dynamics, reinforced inter-sector synergies, wide knowledge dissemination (for instance over 1,300 webinar participants), and increased visibility of important issues such as animal welfare, climate adaptation, and building agility (https://idele.fr/rmt-batice). In summary, the network has become a key player by generating and sharing operational knowledge to improve the sustainability, adaptability, and overall performance of livestock buildings