UH 066 500 Master programme Organic Agricultural Systems and Agroecology (AgrEco-Organic) und Organic Agricultural Systems and Agroecology (EUR-Organic)

Farmers, consumers, processors, and traders are increasingly interested in high value products that fulfil ethical, social, ecological, and economic quality standards. For this reason, a growing amount of food is produced and processed according to the standards of Organic Farming. As Organic Farming is based on a holistic approach thus the production, processing and marketing of organically grown food requires special skills and knowledge. To meet this demand the master programme Organic Agricultural Systems and Agroecology was designed and offers an education related to all aspects of the organic sector and agroecology.

Special skills and knowledge comprise and link ecological, economic, political, cultural, geographical as well as production related characteristics of sustainable land-use systems (organic crop production, organic animal husbandry, organic farming in the tropics and subtropics, organic food chains and networks, influence of European policy on the development of the organic sector, consumer demands, organic market development in different European countries etc.).

Learning and research is problem- and project-oriented using practical inter- and transdisciplinary methods. This approach enables critical reflection and discrete thinking to design sound and sustainable land-use systems.

Structure of the Master Programme

The master degree offers a 30 ECTS-Credits comprising basis in „Organic Agricultural Systems and Agroecology“ (in English Language) and the opportunity to select one (obligatory) focus out of three foci (see figure):

• „Organic Agriculture“ (deadline)
• „Agroecology“ (deadline)
• The international master programme „EUR-Organic” – entirely taught in English and offered in cooperation with four other leading European Universities (www.eur-organic.eu / http://www.boku.ac.at/int-master-ells-euro.html)

Career prospects

The international occurrence of organic farming requires persons with a profound knowledge of the whole organic agro-food chain. Graduates would primarily expect to be employed nationally or internationally in the fields of:

• Food processing, trading companies
• Quality management
• Practice or extension services
• NGOs or other associations
• Research and teaching institutions
• Certification bodies
• Development Cooperation

EUR-Organic is a joint Master Programme of four partner universities

• BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
• ISARA-Lyon -  Institut supérieur d'agriculture et d'agroalimentaire Rhône-Alpes, Lyon, France
• UHOH - Universität Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
• WULS-SGGW - University of Life Sciences Warsaw, Poland

The full Master Programme consists of two semesters at BOKU and two semesters at the selected partner university.