Policy changes in higher education: The University of Kassel shifts towards organic agriculture

The city of Witzenhausen, in the central German state of Hessen, has a long tradition in agricultural education. A school for tropical and subtropical agriculture was founded there back in 1898, oriented at training agricultural experts for the German colonies. Since 1971, the city has hosted the Faculty of Agronomy, International Rural Development and Environmental Protection, which is part of the University of Kassel. Since 1995, the whole faculty has shifted from conventional to organic agriculture, renaming itself the Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences. Today it includes 20 professorships dealing with research and education in organic farming, with no more conventional agriculture activities: a unique situation in the whole world. The report goes in details of the curricula and learning objectives.