Core Competences in Agri-food Sustainability: Student Self-Assessment After Online Action-Learning

Abstract

The need to cultivate student competences to improve sustainability in agrifood systems is indisputable. This paper shows the example of an online student competition course in Sustainable Food for Master students based on action-learning principles and the five core competences of Observation, Participation, Dialogue, Visioning, and Reflection. The course ran three times from 2019-2022 and 85 students assessed themselves in these five competences by responding to 17 rating statements. Analyses revealed significant improvement in all competences except Participation after the course. Yet since Participation was highest rated before the course, rating of this competence was not less than other competences at the end. Practicing these five core competences and integrating competency self-assessments into educational activities can contribute to a paradigm shift in education that fosters the cultivation of competences for sustainability and that may be applicable to other courses.