Project Details
Description
Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change and the expansion of agricultural land for the production of specific agroforestry
products known as forest risk commodities (FRCs), represents its main direct driver in tropical countries. European Union (EU) consumption
of FRCs accounts for 16% of the global embedded deforestation (an area almost the size of Luxemburg). Ensuring the sustainable supply of
FRCs will help EU to achieve its climate targets and increase trust among consumers. However, deforestation is largely considered a
“forestry problem” despite links to agriculture, trade and consumption patterns, all along supply chains. This is also the case in training
offers of higher education and vocational training organisations (HEI&VETs), resulting in a lack of cross-sectoral approaches and
interdisciplinarity in core DFSC disciplines (compliance, technology and corporate social responsibility), for students and professionals. In
previous years, most collective commitments made by private and public actors for deforestation-free supply chains (DFSC) have failed to
invert the trend and the European Commission (EC) has recently approved the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), to ban the import of
FRCs produced on land deforested after 2020. Based on these combined aspects, there is a clear need for innovative approaches to
education, training and capacity building on reducing deforestation risk in supply chains of FRCs in EU. EMMA4EU will respond to these
gaps by bridging the different disciplines and sectors, connecting HEI&VETs, businesses, public organisations and NGOs to launch an EU
alliance that will develop innovative training solutions to create a new profession: the DFSC manager. The new skill sets and professions will
combine digital, green and interdisciplinarity skills to support the transition to more sustainable DFSCs of FRCs, implementation of the
EUDR, a greener and more circular economy and reaching climate-neutrality by 2050.
products known as forest risk commodities (FRCs), represents its main direct driver in tropical countries. European Union (EU) consumption
of FRCs accounts for 16% of the global embedded deforestation (an area almost the size of Luxemburg). Ensuring the sustainable supply of
FRCs will help EU to achieve its climate targets and increase trust among consumers. However, deforestation is largely considered a
“forestry problem” despite links to agriculture, trade and consumption patterns, all along supply chains. This is also the case in training
offers of higher education and vocational training organisations (HEI&VETs), resulting in a lack of cross-sectoral approaches and
interdisciplinarity in core DFSC disciplines (compliance, technology and corporate social responsibility), for students and professionals. In
previous years, most collective commitments made by private and public actors for deforestation-free supply chains (DFSC) have failed to
invert the trend and the European Commission (EC) has recently approved the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), to ban the import of
FRCs produced on land deforested after 2020. Based on these combined aspects, there is a clear need for innovative approaches to
education, training and capacity building on reducing deforestation risk in supply chains of FRCs in EU. EMMA4EU will respond to these
gaps by bridging the different disciplines and sectors, connecting HEI&VETs, businesses, public organisations and NGOs to launch an EU
alliance that will develop innovative training solutions to create a new profession: the DFSC manager. The new skill sets and professions will
combine digital, green and interdisciplinarity skills to support the transition to more sustainable DFSCs of FRCs, implementation of the
EUDR, a greener and more circular economy and reaching climate-neutrality by 2050.
| Acronym | EMMA4U |
|---|---|
| Status | Finished |
| Effective start/end date | 01/07/2023 → 30/06/2026 |