There is no doubt that from all the different industries around the world agriculture has always been and will always be a strong stakeholder for the worldwide economy. Every country has something to offer in the field of agriculture. And with the world evolving on a daily basis agriculture is now more advanced than ever. Technology is able to make things run a lot faster and with a lot more results than ever before.

This, however, has created a gap between the new innovating ways of agriculture and new farmers. To put it as simple as possible, young people are so overwhelmed by all this, they often find themselves being rather afraid of actually becoming a part of the agricultural world. How will they manage it? Will they make a profit? Are their ideas good enough? Will they be successful or will they fail?

It is reasonable to assume that every young aspiring farmer has doubts. After all, history has shown as that there are many different paths one can take to a profession. Farmers follow different Pathways to enter agriculture. Despite the many different personal stories, there are clear common phases in the entry process. The lack of experience, market knowledge and confidence makes it more necessary to newcomers plan carefully for the new enterprise. They need to have a notable proximity to practices and also in attitudes

Here in the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development, we value entrepreneurship more than anything. Entrepreneurship is the key to make anyone successful and if combined with a strong industry it can work wonders. This is why we strongly support young farmers. If they put their fresh minds into work they can become true entrepreneurs in the agricultural field.

Through the implementation of EU projects, we can help spread our ideas and make them a part of the pathway future aspiring farmers will take. In particular, due to the overwhelming nature of agriculture as a profession, iED proposes the development of a simulation process for rural newcomers and new entrants into farming in order for them to acquire all the necessary skills and knowledge before entering the market. The simulation process will be based on a tailored made training for agricultural entrepreneurship. Finally, based on research and evaluation, a toolkit of European best practices will be presented, to demonstrate the approaches and methodologies that can be implemented across Europe to support the target group.

This idea constitutes three very specific activities that will be able to guarantee the success of the idea itself. These activities are the following:

• Identify the knowledge, skills, and competencies that rural newcomers and new entrants into farming require, to effectively support them before entering the market.
• Design of the contents and methodologies to be used in the simulation process
• Development and evaluation of the toolkit

This idea is perfect for the biggest EU financial framework, the Horizon 2020 project. As part of a strong consortium, the IED will be able to bring this very inspiring idea to life. Our expertise in entrepreneurship and our experience as an EU project partner, we will certainly be able to bring a lot more on the table and add value to the proposal it self.