First international partners’ meeting of the Erasmus+ project “The digital Blue Career to overcome the Carbon Crisis – Innovations in Aquaculture Curriculum” [DiBluCa] in Kaunas

The first partner meeting of the international Erasmus+ project “The digital Blue Career to overcome the Carbon Crisis – Innovations in Aquaculture Curriculum” [DiBluCa] (No. 2023-1-LT01-KA220-HED-000154247) took place on 23-24 January at Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA). The project partners are Balikesir University (Turkey), University of Dubrovnik (Croatia), Odesa National University of Technology (Ukraine), University of Thessaly (Greece), coordinator – VMU AA.

COVID-19 and the crisis of the war in Ukraine have highlighted the value of digital education in Europe; the DiBluCa project will develop an innovative higher education curriculum on water sustainability, fisheries now and in the future, which will contribute to ensuring sustainable industry and long-term employment.

The project will be implemented in phases: identification of sector needs, development and/or updating of the curriculum and development of learning materials. The project includes international partner meetings, a digital portal with user-friendly e-learning and best practice modules. An innovative Aquaculture Higher Education Handbook on Tackling Global Warming will be published in English; the e-book will be available in all languages of the project partners.

Project outcomes: adapted higher education and training curricula for future aquaculture needs, long-term employment of aquaculture professionals, increased number of university students, changing attitudes and trends, improvement of the aquaculture sector, aquaculture training knowledge and skills, development of integrated training materials, interactive e-book, international conference and project dissemination events.

During the meeting the main guidelines for the implementation of the project activities were discussed. The timetable for the activities and the responsibilities of the partners were also discussed. The first result of the project was presented – experts from Balikesir University prepared questionnaires for students, teachers, and members of the target groups. These questionnaires will help to find out what the sector needs. On the second day of the meeting, cooperation opportunities were discussed with the specialists of the Lithuanian Zoo – Science Curator Kriste Stravinskaite, Head of Marketing and Education Department Aida Grockiene and Coordinator of Educational Programmes Rasa Kirkaite. Many points of contact were found, prospects for possible cooperation and plans future were discussed. The next meeting of foreign partners will take place in Volos, Greece, at the beginning of June.

The project will run from 01.11.2023 to 31.10.2025.

The 4th meeting of the Erasmus+ MARIPET project in Reykjavik

The fourth meeting of the Erasmus+ project “Innovative Curriculum to Evaluate Marine Fishery Discards as Raw Pet Food for Sustainable Europe” [MARIPET] took place on 28th and 29th November at the Agricultural University of Iceland in Reykjavík. Prof. Dr. Aušra Blinstrubienė, Vice-Chancellor of the Agricultural University, and Dr. Anželika Dautartė, Associate Professor at the Department of Environment and Ecology, participated in the meeting.

During the visit, the Vice-Chancellor met with Ragnheidur Inga Thorarinsdottir, Rector of the Icelandic University of Agriculture, to look into prospective scientific and educational collaboration.

Dissemination activities are scheduled to occur in all project nations in January 2024, as stated on the first day of the meeting, which focused on the completion of the project. The unique five-module curriculum, the online learning platform, the experts’ and producers’ platform for pet food, and the pilot testing of the curriculum in the first week of February were the main points of discussion. The manual/e-book on producing pet food from discarded fish has been finished in terms of organisation, publishing, and distribution.

On the second day of the meeting, a visit was made to the LYSI company. Founded in 1938, LYSI is one of the world’s largest producers of marine oil for human consumption and a pioneer in fish oil production. Today, more than 95% of LYSI’s energy consumption comes from renewable sources. LYSI is one of the main actors in Iceland’s policy to achieve full utilisation of all fishing industry inputs. As a leading expert in the production of valuable products from by-products and waste from traditional fish production, the company makes a significant contribution to the responsible use of natural resources.

Another site visited was BRIM, one of Iceland’s largest fishery companies. Responsible fishing and use of marine ecosystems ensures long-term interests and value creation for employees, shareholders, and society. The company measures its carbon emissions and decisions on fishing and processing here are based on economic and environmental considerations. The company is also committed to long-term carbon neutrality and has set a target to reduce its greenhouse gas intensity (tCO2/m€) by 40% between 2015 and 2030.

The project is coordinated by Ege University (Turkey), project partners: University of Balikesir (Turkey), University of Dubrovnik (Croatia), Agricultural University of Iceland, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality (Turkey), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Vytautas Magnus University.

The final meeting of the project will take place at Ege University on 7-8 February. The project will end on 28 February 2024.

CONFERENCE “YOUNG SCIENTIST 2024”

The 21st annual conference of young scientists “YOUNG SCIENTIST 2024” organized by the Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA) will be held on April 11 2024 remotely. The conference is intended for the first, second and third degree students. The purpose of the conference is to involve students in scientific activities, develop the ability to publicize scientific research results, present their scientific research achievements and discuss topical issues of bioeconomy, green course, climate change, ecosystem sustainability, rational use and protection of natural resources.

There is no conference fee for students. Certificates of conference participants will be awarded to the speakers of the conference.

Speakers will be able to publish articles in the collection of articles of the conference “YOUNG SCIENTIST 2024” or in another scientific publication, for example, in the scientific journal „Agricultural engineering“ or another, after submitting articles that meet the requirements for articles in a scientific publication.

Conference topics	Subtopics
Bioeconomy	Accounting and finance: challenges and opportunities
	Bioeconomy, sustainability of agriculture and food sector
	Innovations and solutions in business logistics
	Management of agri-business and other bioeconomy business organizations
	Sustainable development of rural areas
Biosystems engineering	Energy engineering
	Land management
	Mechanical engineering
	Technology engineering
	Transport engineering
	Water engineering
Sustainability of agricultural, forest, and water ecosystems	Agronomy
	Food quality and safety
	Sustainability of agricultural ecosystems
	Ecosystem services
	Sustainable forestry
	Wildlife population management

Pre-registration for the conference until February 15, 2024.

PROGRAM

Articles for the conference “YOUNG SCIENTIST 2024” are accepted until March 8, 2024. (the link to upload the article). The articles must be prepared according to the recommendations for the authors of the articles (Annex 1_Article template, Annex 2_Authors guarantee letter).

Contests for Teaching and Training Visits under Erasmus+ Programme

International Cooperation Department invites all VMU academic and non-academic staff members to participate in the Erasmus+ contests: the contest for Erasmus+ teaching visits in Programme countries (EU/EEA countries) and the contest for Erasmus+ teaching and training visits in Partner countries (non-EU/EEA countries). The visits will be conducted in the 2023/2024 academic year.

The aim of the teaching visit is to read lectures for students of a university abroad and attract them to study under Erasmus+ at Vytautas Magnus University.

The aim of the training visit is to participate in training events held abroad (except for conferences) or do work internship (observe work, participate in training activities) in universities abroad. This activity encourages professional development of academic and non-academic staff.

The announced contests are:

VMU lecturers and employees are invited to apply for contests until December 1^st. The selection criteria and requirements for applications are provided in the descriptions of the contests.

More information is provided by the VMU International Cooperation Department (erasmus@vdu.lt).

More information about teaching visits

More information about training visits

The final Erasmus+ „Medicinal beekeeping for beekeepers“ [MEDI-BEEB] project meeting in Kaunas

The Erasmus+ international project “Medical Beekeeping for Beekeepers” (project No. 2021-1-TRO1-KA220-VET-000034632) began on February 27, 2022. Adnan Menderes University (Turkey) is the project coordinator; project partners include the Confederation of Italian Farmers of Umbria, Onsekiz Mart University of Cenakale, Wroclaw University of Environment and Life Sciences, Aydin Province Beekeepers’ Association, and Vytautas Magnus University.

The fundamental aim of this project is to inform primarily the beekeepers about apitherapy and to train them to produce bee products under convenient conditions at conscious, healthy and definite standards. Another aim is to build up awareness in the people for the importance of the producing, storing, and marketing the products used in apitherapy.

As time is fast running out, the 4th (final) international meeting of the project partners took place on 8 and 9 November at our university. On the first day of the meeting, a review of the work that had been completed was conducted. This included the development of training materials in a virtual environment, the creation of best practice videos, and the development of a mobile application to diversify, develop and increase the value of beekeepers’ products and their application in apitherapy.

The development of training materials in MEDI-BEEB project was preceded by a thorough analysis of the needs of target groups and the current state of art in the field of production, processing and storage of products used in apitherapy.

The training programme on healthy and accurate procedures in the production of bee and bee products which are expected to be used in the treatment of some human and animal diseases is primarily addressed to beekeepers and other target groups involved in production and marketing of bee products used in apitherapy.

The e-learning course includes ten modules in the field of proper production, processing and storage of bee products used in apitherapy, such as: honey, propolis, pollen, royal jelly, bee venom, beeswax and others. In addition, the course includes information on environmental contamination of bee products, standardization and certification of bee products and legal status of bee products and apitherapy. Each module consists of 25-30 slides fully integrated with e-learning environment. Moreover, the application of e-learning course for mobile phones is developed to facilitate learning and let trainee flexibly manage his/her learning time.

The course has been enhanced with numerous manual videos and podcasts with beekeeping experts on the practical production of high-quality bee products.

The innovative and user-attractive with numerous pictures, graphs and charts handbook content reflects the content of the e- learning course and will be available both in paper form and as e- book.

The pilot testing of the materials will take place in January in all partner countries, as well as face to face and virtual Multiplier event.

The project participants met with the Urbanbee.lt team of urban beekeepers on the second day of the meeting. Urban parks and gardens have lost their most essential pollinator due to the reduction of these insects. Wind alone has been inadequate for the task. Urban beekeeping is becoming more popular among city inhabitants across the globe. Socially responsible businesses install hives on the rooftops of offices, hotels, and commercial buildings, and the honey produced by bees is sometimes given as a corporate gift. The Urbanbee.lt team offers interested businesses a full range of services, including hive installation, ongoing care and responsibility for the bees, and packaging of honey in a representative container with the company’s emblem for corporate presents. MEDI-BEEB project participants engaged in a discussion about the prospects of urban beekeeping, found common links with Urbanbee.lt team members and made contacts that will lead to new project proposals in the future.

A series of finalising activities will take place in all project partner countries in January, including pilot testing of the produced training materials as well as face to face and virtual Multiplier events. The project will be completed on February 27, 2024.

More information click https://www.medibeebe.eu/

The final Erasmus+ „Medicinal beekeeping for beekeepers“ [MEDI-BEEB] project meeting in Kaunas

The course has been enhanced with numerous manual videos and podcasts with beekeeping experts on the practical production of high-quality bee products.

The innovative and user-attractive with numerous pictures, graphs and charts handbook content reflects the content of the e- learning course and will be available both in paper form and as e- book.

The pilot testing of the materials will take place in January in all partner countries, as well as face to face and virtual Multiplier event.

More information click https://www.medibeebe.eu/

Visit of teachers of VMU AA to University of Trieste in Italy

The teachers of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMY AA) assoc. prof. dr. Midona Dapkienė (Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Engineering), prof. dr. Laima Česonienė and assoc. prof. dr. Daiva Šileikienė (Department of Environment and Ecology, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Ecology) visited University of Trieste according to Erasmus+ Mobility agreement on October 9th to 12th 2023.

The University of Trieste is a public research university in Trieste in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeast Italy. The University consists of 10 departments, has a wide and almost complete range of university courses and has about 15,000 students and 1,000 professors.

The teachers of VMU Agriculture Academy presented their University and gave the lectures for students of the master degree programmes in Global Change Ecology and Sustainability as well as in Management of Marine and Coastal Environmental Science. The students of the Environmental and Resource Economics (a master degree programme in Economy) and the PhD students in Circular Economy (a PhD programme in Economy) were invited to some lectures. The topics of lectures were as follows: influence of climate change on surface water status, agricultural activity impact on water quality, wastewater treatment and reuse for soil irrigation, water management in Lithuania, organic agriculture, environmental policy and Green Deal. Masters as well as PhD students also were given a possibility to connect to seminars online. All lectures were recorded and will be used in various training courses.

The representatives of VMU Agriculture Academy had an opportunity to meet the professors Giovanni Bacaro (a coordinator of the master degree programme), Chiara Manfrin, Stefano Martellos, Giuseppe Borruso and Matteo Carzedda and to discuss the possibilities of the joint projects as well as to familiarize with the study process and reasearch at the Department of Life Sciences.

11th International Scientific Conference “Rural Development 2023: Bioeconomy for The Green Deal”

We kindly invite You to the 11th International Scientific Conference “RURAL DEVELOPMENT 2023: Bioeconomy for the Green Deal”, which will take place in Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (Lithuania), 26-28 September, 2023.
This conference is aimed at providing interdisciplinary scientific discussion, presenting new ideas for rural development processes in the context of Bioeconomy, Climate Change, Innovations and Social Progress.

The main topics of Conference sessions:

Agro-innovations and Food Technologies;
Biosystems Engineering and Environmental Integrity;
Multifunctional Approach for Sustainable Use of Bio-Resources;
Social Research for Sustainable Bioeconomy and Climate Change.

Business and Science Forum “Connecting the Dots: A Roadmap for Lithuanian Bioeconomy Development” will be held during the Conference.

Conference keywords: Innovations, Integrity, Bio-resources, Well-being.

Important dates and deadlines:

Until September 15th, 2023 – registration  (extended)
Until September 26th, 2023 – article submission (extended)
Until September 10th, 2023 – payment of participation fee
January, 2024 – publishing of the Conference proceedings

Participation fee	In person (EUR)	Online (EUR)
Authors until August 27th	250	170
Authors after August 27th	300	220
PhD students	125	100
Non-authors	150	Free of charge

Participation fee in person covers not only the Conference proceedings, but also coffee breaks, lunches and gala dinner. The costs of accommodation, cultural (social) programme and transport should be covered by the participants of the Conference.

Speakers of the conference pay the participation fee after receiving information about the confirmation of the topic of the presentation.

Certificates of participants will be sent by e-mail after the conference.

More information about the Conference
Online Registration on the Conference website.
Information for authors.

New design, more user-friendly Conference website: https://www.ruraldevelopment.lt/
Conference e-mail: rural.development@vdu.lt

This Conference starts a cycle of events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy.

VMU Agriculture Academy Graduation Ceremonies

On 16-23 June, Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) invites everyone to participate in festive graduation events.

On 21 June, a graduation ceremony will be held for the graduates of the VMU Agriculture Academy, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Ecology, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, and Faculty of Agronomy.

FESTIVE HALL OF VMU AGRICULTURE ACADEMY | STUDENTŲ G. 11, AKADEMIJA, KAUNO RAJ.

10 a.m. Graduation ceremony of the AA Faculty of Forest Sciences and Ecology

12 p.m. Graduation ceremony of the AA Faculty of Engineering

2 p.m. Graduation ceremony of the AA Faculty of Bioeconomy Development

4 p.m. Graduation ceremony of the AA Faculty of Agronomy

The events will be photographed and/or filmed; therefore, please note that you might be featured in photos or videos which can be published in various media outlets.

The Erasmus+ project “Medical beekeeping – for beekeepers”

Bees provide a crucial ecological service by pollinating plants, which is essential for plant life. Beekeepers use these insects to harvest honey, pollen, bee pitch, royal jelly, wax, bee venom, and other useful and helpful elements for health. These products, however, must be produced in a secure and proper way.

The Erasmus+ project “Medical beekeeping – for beekeepers” (MEDI-BEEB) addresses these issues. Adnan Menderes University (Turkey) is the project coordinator, project partners include the Confederation of Italian Farmers of Umbria, Onsekiz Mart University of Cenakale, Wroclaw University of Environment and Life Sciences, Aydin Province Beekeepers’ Association, and Vytautas Magnus University (VMU). The third meeting of the project “Medical beekeeping for beekeepers” took place on May 16-17 at the Wroclaw University of Environment and Life Sciences (Poland). Prof. dr. Virginija Dulskienė and assoc. prof. dr. Anželika Dautartė of the Department of Environment and Ecology at the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Ecology at VMU Agriculture Academy participated in the meeting. The training materials being prepared in a virtual environment, where video topics of best practice examples are discussed to diversify, develop and increase the value of the production produced by beekeepers and its application for apitherapy purposes. Soon this information will also be available on the project website and mobile app. The final meeting of the project will be held on November 8-9 at Vytautas Magnus University.

More information about the project can be found at the project website: https://www.medibeeb.eu/