Support Agro Forestry through Project Activity of the University of Montenegro
Enriching the existing teaching programs at the Biotechnical Faculty by introducing content from the field of agroforestry, as well as creating assumptions for the introduction of a special subject "Agroforestry", through the exchange of experiences, are just some of the goals of the recently won international project in which the University of Montenegro, or BTF, is a partner. This project will promote the importance of agroforestry practices and the benefits that local communities can have from their application, as well as the training of higher education personnel in this area. It is about the project "Agroforestry practices in West Balkan for sustainable development: weaknesses and strengths - AGROFORWEB". The BTF project team that will work on implementation of this project consists of Assoc. Milić Čurović, Ph.D., Jelena Lazarević, Ph.D., and Ana Topalović, Ph.D. They will collaborate with the projects international partners, among them the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Belgrade, the University of Forestry in Sofia, the Croatian Forestry Institute, Jastrebar and Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek. The project was approved for funding under the Erasmus + call: KA220-HED - Cooperation partnerships in higher education.
Professor Čurović states that the field of agroforestry is recognized as extremely important, bearing in mind that fundamental regional component of Europe is basically agroforestry in its characteristics.
"In recent decades, as a result of human activities and climate change, the stability of these ecosystems has been threatened, and the acceleration of degradation processes is noticeable. These changes are reflected in the loss of biodiversity, soil degradation, soil and water losses. It is expected that under the influence of climate change, the mentioned problems will become more pronounced in the coming period. This is also the reason why EU strategies indicate an inter sectors, joint approach to solving these problems, creating connected information systems for monitoring key parameters, as well as improving education in areas such as agroforestry," assistant professor Milić Čurović explains.
Implementation of the project begins in December 2022, and duration of the project is 24 months.