TRADPRO Development and implementation of masters programmes in food safety and the production and marketing of TRADitional food PROducts in Russia and Kazakhstan

Project Summary TradPro proposes to develop RU/KZ universities’ capacities to develop new curricula that meet the most pressing needs of the economic sector, enhance their graduates’ employment opportunities, and improve relationships between universities and food professionals by creating a new specialisation at the master’s level in food safety and the production and marketing of traditional food products. More specific objectives include raising food safety standards; meeting the demands of food producers, sellers, and consumers; strengthening relations and networking mechanisms between EU and RU-KZ universities in the area of food safety and food science and technology; and encouraging entrepreneurship in economically underdeveloped regions of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. TRADPRO Development and implementation of masters programmes in food safety and the production and marketing of TRADitional food PROducts in Russia and Kazakhstan

Project Management The project consortium comprises 5 EU, 4 RU & 3 KZ universities, 5 enterprises, 1 ministry of education and 1 non-commercial organisation. Overall project management is assumed by SupAgro. TuvSU and KSU will coordinate the RU and KZ partners respectively. All other partners also have coordinators. Tradpro is a 3 year’s project ending beginning of Overall budget (Tempus grant) is 787,351€ TRADPRO Development and implementation of masters programmes in food safety and the production and marketing of TRADitional food PROducts in Russia and Kazakhstan

Activities There are 2 overarching, interconnected groups of activities in TradPro: Development and modernisation of curricula related to traditional food processing & food safety, adapted to local economic needs, and dissemination of the proven methodology for developing adapted curricula (training engineering) also in other economic sectors. Development of relationships between professionals and universities through newly created (or not) Professional Development Centres (PDCs); TRADPRO Development and implementation of masters programmes in food safety and the production and marketing of TRADitional food PROducts in Russia and Kazakhstan

Professional Development Centres (PDCs) A key aspect in strengthening the relationships between university communities and local professionals is the establishment of PDCs within the universities. All institutions are prepared to dedicate administrative staff to run the centres. PDC managers are to be trained at SUPAGRO in project month 3 (2.1). Prior to the establishment of PDCs, current relationships between universities and the relevant economic sectors, as well as expectations and constraints of both, will be surveyed (2.3), results presented and recommendations made (2.4). This will provide direction to each PDC and help them establish their priorities and main activities. Professionals willing to join PDCs’ steering committees will be identified at this stage.

The PDCs main missions (at least) : 1) to turn the 3 training modules into intensive courses for professionals (6.4 − continuing education) and, if indicated by the needs assessment, into distance (eLearning) modules; 2) to propose other continuing education modules for RU/KZ; 3) to establish tools & indicators for quality assessment of the training modules; 4) to promote and attract trainees for continuing professional and teacher training (7.2); 5) to help universities develop a robust methodology for new modules/curricula development by organising training sessions on training engineering (6.3); 6) to carefully track the job market (6.6) and student placement (6.7) in order to act retroactively (feedback) on the contents of curricula and pedagogical methods; 7) to organise job forums that bring together professionals and students to share their experiences. TRADPRO Development and implementation of masters programmes in food safety and the production and marketing of TRADitional food PROducts in Russia and Kazakhstan

A project website has been created ( ) and maintained by the PDCs. This website will present and promote the project & the work done for the agrofood sector. The PDCs and the website will help develop and maintain interaction with professionals. TRADPRO Development and implementation of masters programmes in food safety and the production and marketing of TRADitional food PROducts in Russia and Kazakhstan

Work Package TitleLed byStarting 1 Project management : project start and steering committees SUPAGRONow 2 Develop sustainable relationships between universities and professionals in the agricultural food sector (agro- food stakeholders) BSAANow 3 Specific masters curricula adapted to local contexts KSUNow 4 Training of RU/KZ TeachersUNIPINow 5 Modernised masters programmes in food safety and the production and marketing of traditional food products at RU /KZ universities TuvSuMonth 19 6 Effective functioning of professional development centres TuvSuMonth 9 7 Programme promotion and sustainabilityKSUMonth 12 8 Quality monitoringSUPAGRONow 9 Pedagogical, administrative and financial managementSUPAGRONow TRADPRO Development and implementation of masters programmes in food safety and the production and marketing of TRADitional food PROducts in Russia and Kazakhstan