EIT Food Inspire HealthySoil4Life Summer School

Ignite Your Agrifood Journey: Learn, Innovate, Thrive!

After the success of the 2022 InnovPlanet Summer School, we are thrilled to announce the arrival of the Inspire HealthySoil4Life Summer School. Prepare yourself for an exceptional 3-week hybrid course, brimming with fresh content and abundant resources. This immersive experience is specifically designed to nurture entrepreneurial skills and empower individuals who share a deep passion for agri-food and sustainability. Get ready to acquire climate farming knowledge and tools to spearhead innovative products in the agri-food sector!

Registration for the  Inspire HealthySoil4Life Summer School will open soon! Join our vibrant community, and get the chance to be among the first participants in this edition!
EIT Food Inspire HealthySoil4Life Summer School

Who is it for?

This course welcomes undergraduates, MSc/PhD students, researchers, professionals, and aspiring entrepreneurs interested in innovating in the food system. We seek individuals from diverse backgrounds, including Food Science, Other Sciences, Engineering, Business/Marketing, Informatics and Computational Science, and more.

Only participants from RIS countries can apply: Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, French Guiana, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Réunion, Saint Martin, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine.

Objectives

As a learner, you will develop your knowledge on soil health and related innovative farming practices, by linking the role of soil health to climate adaptation and mitigation towards better health and wellbeing.  This Summer School will provide you with a toolkit to become effective innovators in the food system, including design thinking, business idea development, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, team building, pitching, among others. You will apply your knowledge of soil health and soil functionality and sustainable farming to innovate products or techniques that impact the food system.

Advantages

Integrating entrepreneurship training with food production innovation will enable you to create solutions to global challenges such as climate change and health. The programme has been developed and will be delivered by an outstanding collaborative group composed of European universities, institutes, food industry companies, farmers, and agri-food startups. This unique programme features teaching by highly skilled mentors in entrepreneurship in the food system from Food4Sustainability (Portugal), University of Sevilla (Spain), BGI (Portugal), Idanha-a-Nova Municipality (Portugal), Castillo del Canena (Spain), and The Grand Farm (Austria).

Duration & Important Dates

This course will last 3 weeks: 

From July 3rd to 14th:
  online
From July 24th to 28th:
onsite, in Idanha-a-Nova (Portugal), for students selected in the final assessment of week 2.

Structure & Modules

Over a period of 3 weeks, the programme will provide a dynamic and supportive environment for you to develop your knowledge on soil health, sustainable agriculture and climate farming techniques and scientific basis. During the full programme, and especially in the third week, you will develop your entrepreneurial mindset and learn how you can transform your ideas into business propositions. 

During the first and second weeks, the programme will take place online with a combination of asynchronous learning resources and live (synchronous) interactive virtual sessions: 

Monday, July 3rd

HealthSoil4Life Kick-off; Introduction to the challenges in soil health, sustainable agriculture and climate smart farming techniques. 

Tuesday, July 4th - Friday, July 7th 

The Soil - importance, properties, interactions with plants and microorganisms, soil dynamics and best management practices  

Monday, July 10th - Friday, July  14th 

How to assess soil health in practice? Techniques for precision climate change & soil conservation, overview of tools for soil health assessment, case studies from soil microbiome analysis and digital technologies (start-ups) for soil monitoring 

Monday, July 24th – Thursday, July 27th 

Eco-Week in the village of Penha Garcia (Portugal) in the GeoPark awarded by UNESCO.Introduction of the Entrepreneurial Week; Presentation of case studies and major challenges; Sustainable Business Models, Pitch design and training; On-site visits.  

Friday, July 28th 

Pitch Presentation and Closing Ceremony 

Past Editions


InnovPlanet Summer School
See more
Post-Harvest School
See more

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