ICA Network for Innovation in Life Sciences Higher Education

This Network was formally the European Conference of Higher Agricultural Education (ECAHE).  ECHAE established a successful series of biennial conferences, which were initiated by Wageningen Agricultural University in 1992.  ECHAE became a standing committee of ICA in 2001.  ICA-Edu was formally launched at the ICA Week of Conferences 2012 in Bozen-Bolzano. 

ICA-Edu became a Committee of the ICA Board in 2017.  ICA-Edu is led by an international executive committee.

The ICA-Edu Colloquia aim to provide the opportunity to discuss innovative approaches in higher education in the sciences of agriculture, food, natural resources, rural development and the environment.

The overall objectives of the conferences are to:

• contribute to the European and global agenda for higher agricultural education
• formulate strategies for greater international understanding
• enhance co-operation through networking, and
• share experiences and outcomes from the best current national and international projects to improve the overall quality and relevance of the teaching and learning process

The conferences are interdisciplinary. Contributions are encouraged from a wide range of relevant professionals and countries to add to those of the keynote speakers. The target audience includes academics, researchers, policy makers, extension workers and practitioners in agriculture industry and rural development.

List of past conferences and colloquia

ICA-Edu Colloquium: Delivering graduates to meet the challenges of the sustainable development goals (SDGs): embedding the development of ethical and sustainable values in the curriculum held at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Croatia on 13 & 14 June, 2017

ICA-Edu Colloquium: e-learning in the life sciences: exploiting open source materials in the curriculum, held at the University of Helsinki, Finland on 16-17 June 2016

ICA-Edu Colloquium: Educating Life Science Graduates Fit for Europe held at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) April 14-16, 2015

Educating  the Net Generation in the Life Sciences, held at the Free University of Bozen - Bolzano, Italy,  2012

Bologna Declaration 10 years on – Promising and delivering quality in Life Science education across Europe, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Croatia, 2010.

Developing roadmaps for European Life Science degrees: Competences, Quality, Employability.- University of Lleida, Spain. 2008.

The Public and the Agriculture and Food Industries: The role of higher education in questioning assumptions and matching expectations. – Czech University of Agriculture in Prague, Czech Republic, 2006 .

Rethinking higher education in the food chain and environment – Profiling graduates of the future. – The Royal Veterinary & Agricultural University (KVL), Copenhagen, Denmark, 2004.

Harmonization in European Higher Agricultural Education: Dream or Nightmare? – Technological Education Institute of Crete, Heraklion, Greece, 2002.

From Production Agriculture to Rural Development: Challenges for Higher Agricultural Education in the New Millennium. - Seale-Hayne Faculty of the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom, 2000.

Society’s Expectations of European Agriculture: the Catalytic Rôle of Agricultural Education. - Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, Moscow, Russia, 1998.

Biodiversity, an issue in Higher Education. - Agropolis, Montpellier, France, 1996.

Managing Change in the Food Chain and Environment: the Role of Higher Agricultural Education. - Gödöllö University of Agricultural Sciences, Hungary, 1994.

Changes in Agriculture and Environment: a Challenge for Higher Education. - Wageningen Agricultural University, Netherlands, 1992 .

More information:

Professor Barbara Hinterstoisser
Chair of ICA-Edu

University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU)
Gregor Mendel Strasse 33
1180 Vienna
Austria

email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Contact for more details: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , ICA Secretary General