This was the CASEE Summer School 2013
The CASEE summer school 2013 on the topic of
"Intercultural training with focus on sustainable agriculture, food production and food protection in the Danube Region"
took place in the end of September 2013 at the Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine „King Michael I of Romania” - USAMVBT in Timisoara, Romania.
The aim was to transfer the understanding of the importance of intercultural and regional aspects of sustainable agriculture in finding viable pathways to long-term success in Central and Eastern European agriculture. This summer school gave the students the possibility to improve their knowledge and grow their skill-set regarding the intercultural and social aspects, anthropic landscape and natural resources - related to sustainability in agriculture and the food industry in the Danube region.
The main focus of the course was on self-development in a multicultural European region through interactive exercises and discussion. At the end of this course, students werwe able to identify some of their own culturally-biased assumptions and behavior, and begin to objectively address the benefits of EU multiculturalism for regional agriculture and food industry.
The courses combined theoretical aspects and field trips in order to broaden horizons and provide life changing experiences in the context of global changes, ecosystem degradation, biodiversity conservation and the technological and economic ability to adapt. The Banat region -- inherently intercultural and diverse -- served as the basis for the exploration of intercultural topics and their implications on agriculture and the food industry in the Danube region.
Courses
The Summer School "Intercultural Training with special emphasis on sustainability in agriculture, food production and food technology in the Danube region" provided an overview of social and cultural context of food and agriculture. The main focus was on intercultural learning, multicultural learning, but also basic studies of EU union. Selected courses e.g. included Sustainability of agriculture in the Danube region, organic farming and organic food, food microbiology. In addition, educational priorities in the area of agriculture and the environment in the Danube region will be discussed and each partner university will present its teaching and research activities. Last but not least, topic-related excursions (e.g. workshops on traditional food) in the Banat region completed the program.
The courses culminated in a final group project where students worked together in applying the ideas and practices from the school to real world challenges and develop feasible solutions. The goal was to expand students' realm of consideration to think outside of their own cultural biases.
Lectures
- Sustainability aspects of agriculture in Danube Region
- Social and Cultural context of food
- Gender and rural development
- Educational priorities in a agriculture and environment
- Intercultural learning
- Multicultural communication
- Basic studies of European Union
- Banat Interculturality
- Organic food quality and safety
- Food safety food adulteration and authentication, health safety aspects
- Organic farmin in Poland
- Plant Biotechnology
- The impact of dietary habits and traditional food on health population in the Danube Area: Intercultural Issues
- Animal biotechnology and embryotechnology
- Food microbiology
- Animal pathophysiology
- Traditional food in Banat
- Cultural evolution of the central European built sites – the case of Banat region
- Diversity of Architectural styles
USAMBVT
The Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Banat from Timişoara (USAMVBT) is an institution specialized in agronomical and veterinary higher education, with a national and European span.
Its traditions are connected to the establishment of the Faculty of Agronomy in 1945, which functioned besides the Polytechnic Institute from Timişoara. In the socio-economical and political conditions of the time, King Mihai I of Romania promulgated the Law 617/1945 for the creation of the Faculty of Agronomy within the Polytechnics of Timişoara. After 1989, the University has had a continuous evolution, by the diversification of domains and specializations in the educational offer. At present, USAMVBT functions with 6 faculties (Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry, Agricultural Management, Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science, and Biotechnologies, Food Processing Technology), with a number of 22 licentiate’s degree programmes, 22 programmes of master studies and 2 doctoral schools (www.usab-tm.ro).
Timisoara and the Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of Timiș, Caraș-Severin, Arad south of the Mureș, and Mehedinți), the western part in northeastern Serbia (the Serbian Banat, mostly included in Vojvodina, except for a small part included in Belgrade Region), and a small northern part in southeastern Hungary (Csongrád county). It is populated by Romanians, Serbs, Hungarians, Roma, Germans, Krashovani, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Czechs, Croats and other ethnicities.
The Banat is a part of the Pannonian Basin bordered by the River Danube to the south, the River Tisa to the west, the River Mureș to the north, and the Southern Carpathian Mountains to the east. Its historical capital was Timișoara,now one of the largest Romanian cities, with a population of 303,708 inhabitants (the third most populous city in the country, as of 2011), and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the western part of Romania.