The project "Center for Digital Qualification in Agriculture" (ZDQ Agrar), funded by the Friedel & Gisela Bohnenkamp Foundation, aims to increase the acceptance and use of digital technologies in agriculture. The training concepts being developed should be transferable to other sectors. Digitalization with its many innovative technologies is increasingly finding its way into the agricultural and food industry. This quickly raises the question of the general state of digital training in the agricultural sector. After all, farmers and their employees and agricultural machinery technicians must also be able to handle joysticks, terminals, robots, etc. skilfully so that digitalization can make work processes more efficient, safer and more uniform and, last but not least, relieve the burden on people.

In fact, there are still gaps in the skills required for digital applications. According to Robert Everwand, Managing Director of the "Agrotech Valley Forum (AVF)", the use of "colorful agricultural fleets" from different manufacturers, in conjunction with sometimes different digital technologies, leads to noticeable uncertainty on the part of users. Agricultural businesses and contractors are not yet able to sufficiently assess the sensible use of digital technologies. The reasons for this include a lack of knowledge and experience with digital technology and a lack of appropriate training in data literacy and data protection. As a result, digital technologies are not yet being used to the desired extent in agriculture, says Robert Everwand, summarizing the current situation.

The newly launched project "Center for Digital Qualification in Agriculture" (ZDQ Agrar) in Osnabrück aims to close these gaps in training in a targeted manner. The initiative is supported by the University of Applied Sciences and the University of Osnabrück with its expertise in the fields of vocational didactics, didactics of technology and didactics of computer science. Also on board is the "Agrotech Valley Forum (AVF) e.V." - an association of agricultural technology companies and universities, which provides the ideal link to agricultural technology manufacturers and equipment suppliers. The AVF's primary goal is to drive forward the digital transformation of the agricultural and food industry towards more sustainable food production. The Friedel & Gisela Bohnenkamp Foundation, which emerged from the Osnabrück-based Bohnenkamp AG - a wholesaler of tires, wheels and vehicle components - has dedicated itself to supporting innovative, professionally sound and sustainable educational projects under the motto "Promoting education - taking everyone with you". Among other things, the foundation has supported the "Autonomous, collaborative agricultural and sensor systems" professorship at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and is contributing experience from other educational projects to the new digitalization offensive. It was the funding from the Friedel & Gisela Bohnenkamp Foundation that made the launch of the "ZDQ" possible. From the outset, the initiators of the "ZDQ" are focusing on cooperation with other educational institutions, associations and comparable initiatives from the agricultural sector, which are to be included in the project work.

Based on existing structures in the education and training landscape, the "ZDQ Agrar" initiative aims to support teachers from recognized educational institutions such as vocational schools, DEULA institutions or chambers in their work by providing suitable teaching materials, among other things. At the same time, this will noticeably improve the training and further education of traditional users such as farmers, vocational school students or employees of agricultural contractors. As digital knowledge is dynamic due to the constant emergence of new technologies, teachers are supported by constantly updated e-learning courses as part of the qualification concept. According to Professor Dr. Harald Strating from Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences (Department of Didactics of Technology), the training concept follows an action-oriented approach. This means that digital processes are not only made tangible for the learners, but are structured along concrete, operational work and business processes, the benefits are made clear and inhibitions in practical application are reduced. The use of demonstrators such as a station consisting of a tractor seat, joystick, terminal and corresponding user interfaces can have a supportive effect here, adds Professor Dr. Michael Brinkmeier from the University of Osnabrück (AG Didaktik der Informatik). The project operators attach particular importance to the cross-manufacturer and manufacturer-independent transfer of knowledge. Only in this way can the close connection between individual digital systems be made clear and a decentralized teaching and learning offer be provided nationwide.

By mid-2025, work analyses will be carried out, the qualification concept will be fine-tuned, initial training courses will be tested and practical experience will be gathered. The new qualification program will then be publicly launched at the beginning of 2027. Professor Dr. Michael Martin from Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences (Department of Vocational Didactics) is already certain that this qualification concept can also be transferred to other areas such as gardening and landscaping or the construction industry.