Cities are no longer merely places of consumption. They are increasingly becoming spaces of production, learning, and innovation. Urban and peri-urban agriculture has the potential to provide healthy food, create green jobs, and strengthen communities. Realising this potential, however, requires new skills that combine traditional farming knowledge with digital tools, research, and sustainable design.
SMART-CSA addresses this need by building a research-based knowledge foundation for sustainable urban and peri-urban agriculture. The project brings together literature and policy reviews, field-based data, and stakeholder perspectives from across Europe. On this basis, it develops digital training resources, microlearning-based learning modules, and practice-oriented training pathways.
At the heart of the project is learning by doing. Alongside digital learning environments, SMART-CSA offers opportunities for field-based learning, pilot activities, and hands-on demonstrations. The project also creates spaces for dialogue and knowledge exchange through events, workshops, and webinars, fostering cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
In the long term, SMART-CSA envisions a Europe in which urban and peri-urban agriculture is an integral part of sustainable food systems, climate resilience, and local self-reliance — supported by vocational education and training that is concrete, practical, and grounded in real-world experience.
