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IMPLEMENTATION OF A QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM FOR T..
IMPLEMENTATION OF A QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM FOR TRAINING IN ORGANIC FOOD RETAIL
The market of organic products in Europe is expanding with about 10-15% annually. Thus, for sustainable development of the organic food retail market the qualifications of the managers and employees are getting increasingly vital. The introduction of the Quality Assurance System “EcoQualify” offers one sufficient solution to this situation. This European Quality Assurance System was developed in the frame of the project called "Dissemination and implementation of a Quality Assurance System for education in organic retail in Europe - E(co)-Qualify II", co-financed by the European Commission in the frame of the Long Life Learning Program / Leonardo Da Vinci as an Innovation Transfer Project. The aim of the E(co)-Qualify III Project was the implementation of the European Quality Assurance System for Education in Organic Food Retail. The main focus and objectives of the project were the adaptation and testing of the QAS at national levels in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey; the modification and adaptation of the QAS for the national needs and conditions; the transfer and implementation of the QAS in the practice of educational institutions (universities, colleges, vocational training centers, etc.), aiming to establish a controllable framework of high quality training for the staff of organic products retailers in the receiver countries. Target groups and users were providers of qualification and training, professional associations, businesses, entrepreneurs and employees, and other stakeholders in the vocational training of this branch. Training institutions and stakeholders of professional education in the participating countries learned to know the quality assurance system and to implement it in their daily training and education practices. Project Coordinator was the University of Thessaly, Greece. Eight partners were participated in this project: Organic Retailers Association, ORA, Austria and Institute Equalita, Germany as partners from the initial project, contributing to the project with their experience from the original development activities; University of Agribusiness and Rural Development (UARD) /former Higher School “Agricultural College”, Bulgaria; Romanian Resource Center for the Promotion and Marketing of Organic Products - "EcoR Partner“, Romania and Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey as core partners and Eurocentre - Land and Environment, Bulgaria; C.V.T. GEORGIKI ANAPTIXI, Greece; Organic Product Producers and Industrialists Association (ORGÜDER), Turkey as associated partners.