Urban agriculture

The need to launch a new study program arose as part of project activities within the ERASMUS + project "BUGI" Western Balkans Urban Agriculture Initiative ( https://www.unsa.ba/projekti/bugi-western-balkans-urban-agriculture-initiative ).

Unofficial estimates are that urban agriculture in the agricultural sector is present with 25-30%. The concept of urban agriculture has a number of environmental advantages, because it reduces harmful substances in cities and improves urban biodiversity. Urban agriculture is based on the development and implementation of a new model for employment, it refers to the cultivation, processing and distribution of food in populated areas or in their immediate vicinity. The main characteristic of urban agriculture is local food production for local use - a concept that ensures: employment of the population, cultivation of urban and suburban areas, more food and healthier nutrition, increasing economic power of the city and population and stronger socio-economic ties among the population.

As part of the activities, it is planned to be introduced as such, except at the Faculty of Agro-Mediterranean University "Džemal Bijedić" in Mostar and at the University of Sarajevo at the Faculty of Agriculture and Food (Project Coordinator), at the University of Donja Gorica in Podgorica, and at the Universities of Peja and Pristina. .

The goals of the study program are to educate staff in the field of urban agriculture. At the same time, they will acquire the necessary knowledge about the production of agricultural crops in specific conditions of the urban environment, with the application of innovative information solutions, knowledge and skills from the mentioned areas in the basic sectors of agricultural, economic and food activities. The study program aims to provide multidisciplinary education in theory and practice and thus provide the necessary professional competencies to perform activities in the field of urban agriculture. These staff will be able to be employed within the social sector in the field of urban agriculture and wider agricultural activities, to deal with the organization, production, innovation, development of new agricultural products based on research, as well as planning the maximum availability of available resources. Graduates after successfully completing the study program, will have the opportunity for further education in higher level study programs in BiH and the EU (such as the University of Bologna and the University of Westfalia in Germany). Training of staff for work in urban agriculture is set as an imperative with the purpose of increasing the competencies of experts in this field, and thus more successful development of specific and modified agriculture in the urban environment of other economic activities and increase their income.

The aim of the new study program is for the student to get acquainted with theoretical and practical determinants (Sustainable Agriculture, Use of Information Technologies in Urban Agriculture, Urban Ecology, ...), as well as the multidisciplinary character of agricultural sciences. With the help of compulsory and elective courses, the student acquires professional competencies for possible employment in the field of planning better and more sustainable use of resources, etc.

General information about the study program