Micro-credentials across two continents: the EU-LATAM Food System Academy
150 vocational educators in Colombia and Chile co-design micro-credentials with partners from Germany and Spain. A new way of certifying green skills, built between two continents.
How do you certify a green skill? Food systems are changing faster than the curricula that train their technicians: regenerative agriculture, sustainable logistics, circular economy applied to food. Technical and vocational education needs to respond at that speed, and traditional degrees do not always keep up.
The EU-LATAM Food System Academy was born to answer that question collectively: technical and vocational education (VET) institutions from Colombia and Chile, working with partners from Germany and Spain on a collaboration platform spanning two continents.
Micro-credentials: certifying what industry needs today
At the heart of the project are 50 micro-credentials: short, verifiable, stackable certifications that recognise specific skills for a sustainable food system. Unlike a multi-year degree, a micro-credential can be designed with local industry, delivered in weeks and updated when the technology changes.
To build them, the programme trained 150 vocational educators and trainers in Colombia and Chile, and activated 700 students. The educators did not receive closed content: they co-designed the micro-credentials with their European peers, anchoring them in the needs of the local workforce, the community and the industry of each territory.
What this case demonstrates
First, that technical and vocational education is a protagonist of the transition, not a spectator: a sustainable industry is built with technicians trained for it.
Second, that collaboration between Latin America and Europe works best when it flows both ways. The European partners brought certification frameworks and micro-credential experience; the Latin American institutions brought territorial knowledge and the urgency of their industries. The result belongs to both.
And third, that the future calls for new ways of learning, collaborating and leading. Micro-credentials are one of those ways, and they are already operating.
Would your institution like to explore micro-credentials or industry-focused educator training? Let’s talk.