Who we are
Georgian Association for Applied Education and Development, AED
Non-for profit organization Georgian Association for Applied Education and Development, AED was established in 2017 with initiative of Mikheil Svimonishvili and through support of private Swiss foundation – Gebert Ruf Stiftung. AED’s objective is to develop non-profit activities in Georgia in a state-of-the art way of a charitable organization, in particular
- Facilitate applied education and development
- Develop cultural activities
Strategic Board
Mikheil Svimonishvili (2017-)
Monika Butler (2023 -)
Philipp Egger (2017-2022)
Tinatin Makharadze (2017-)
Swiss Agricultural School Caucasus is the first project of AED. AED is the sole owner of SASC, it determines the strategic goals for the school, and is responsible for the implementation and financial stability of the school.
Swiss Agricultural School Caucasus
Agricultural knowledge center specialized in cattle breeding and dairy processing
Swiss Agricultural School Caucasus (SASC) is an unprecedented non-profit private initiative in the Georgian agricultural VET sector, which aims to contribute to the development of a system of high quality vocational training and extension services in agriculture that will result in improved livelihoods of the rural population. VET school created according to the Swiss standards specializes in animal husbandry and milk processing. The College offers short and long-term practice-based professional programs in farming and dairy processing to students, farmers, and other interested
parties. For this purpose, the school operates a training farm and a cheese dairy.
Goals:
- Boost the development in the sector
- Sustainable utilisation of natural resources
- Strengthening of mountainous regions
- Upscale current value chain
- Create successful career opportunities for the youth from the economically most vulnerable families
Partners
In order to set the highest VET standards, one of the most prominent Swiss VET school – Plantahof has been selected as the main conceptual partner for the project.
Plantahof is an agricultural knowledge and advisory center with a history of 120 years. Currently, Plantahof runs 4 training farms located on 270 hectares in Canton Graubünden, Switzerland. Further, Plantahof also manages 9 farmers’ consultation centers across the Canton. Plantahof serves 360 students and farmers annually. There are only a few similar agricultural schools in Switzerland and they play a major role in the agricultural sector.
The cooperation between SASC and Plantahof is carried out through collaboration with the Swiss consultancy company – Expertier Veterinary Consulting. Since 2019, The team responsible for “knowledge transfers” is actively working on curriculum development, training of teachers, creating and implementing concept for practice farms, selection of teaching materials and other aspects of knowledge transfer.
Initiator and Donor
A private Swiss fund – Gebert Ruf Stiftung – is one of the initiators and main financial partner of the project. The fund has been supporting projects in science and education for over 25 years. The financial contribution from GRS enabled the foundation of the school, construction of main infrastructure and start of the educational activities.
With financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) finances the knowledge transfer from Switzerland
Verein zur Forderung der Swiss Agricultural School Caucasus in Georgia – a private Swiss fund supports educational and accommodation costs for long-term students. Verein zur Forderung der Swiss Agricultural School Caucasus in Georgia
Barbel & Paul Geissbuhler Stiftung – a private Swiss fund supports educational and accommodation costs for long-term students, as well as infrastructural investments
International Fund for Agricultural Development and Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia co-financed the equipment for the practice farm.
With support of “Fondation des Fondateurs” SASC aims to establish first aid station and rescue services in Sarkineti
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) co-financed auxiliary equipment of the cheese dairy
Rural Development Agency (an agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia) co-financed the purchase of agricultural machinery
Land o’Lakes Venture37 co-financed purchase of agricultural machinery
Brauvieh Schweiz co-financed the purchase of the cattle from Switzerland.
Swissgenetics co-financed the purchase of the cattle from Switzerland
A private Swiss fund – Gebert Ruf Stiftung – is one of the initiators and main financial partner of the project.
Linsi Foundation – a private Swiss fund – supports the strengthening of local management and expertise in Dmanisi
In Partnership with the USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program, SASC aims to
create opportunities for rural farmers and dairy processors to improve their
employment and productivity by giving access to high-quality, practical skills programs
in agriculture. To achieve this objective, a new training center will be established in
Sarkineti. SASC will replicate six training programs from Switzerland.
With financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) finances the knowledge transfer from Switzerland
Georgian Farmers Association financed demonstration land
plot for forage production.