Integration of Digital Agriculture Technologies and Tools into the Curricula of Departments at the Agricultural University of Athens

The Informatics Laboratory of the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) is part of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (AOA) and provides courses not only within the AOA Department, but also across other departments, including Crop Science, Animal Science, Food Science and Human Nutrition, Natural Resources Development and Agricultural Engineering, and Biotechnology. 

As part of the TALLHEDA project, a significant development took place that had a positive and direct impact on the curriculum content, driven by the active participation of both students and professors in two TALLHEDA events held in Athens: the 1^st Brainstorming Action titled “Brainstorming in Digital Agriculture in Europe” on December 3-5, 2024, and the Info Day titled “Digital Technologies in Agriculture” on October 22, 2024. 

The strong interest shown by students and teachers, through questions, suggestions, and discussions, highlighted the need to update existing courses or introduce new ones incorporating digital technologies and tools in the learning process. The changes implemented in three departments (Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Department of Animal Science, and Department of Crop Science) are outlined below:  

1. Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development 

   
   

Enrichment of the course “Internet and Applications in Agriculture” with new topics, including: 

-Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications and tools  

-Blockchain for transparency in agri-food supply chains 

-Digital Twins for agriculture 

Enrichment of the course “E-government and Open Data” with new topics, including: 

-Data sharing of agriculture data 

-The use of blockchain in e-government applications for agriculture 

-New course introduced, titled “R Programming for Data Science”, helping students build skills in agricultural data analysis. 

2. Department of Animal Science 

During a faculty meeting on the impact of the TALLHEDA project, it was decided to introduce two new courses in the 2025-2026 academic year in the curricula of the Animal Science Department, as follows: 

• New course introduced, titled “Internet and Applications in Agriculture” 

• New course introduced, titled “R Programming for Data Science” 

This decision represents an important step toward adapting academic programs to the real-world needs of digital agriculture. 

3. Department of Crop Science 

Following collaboration between professors and student feedback from the project’s events, the department decided to update the existing course “Information Technologies in Agriculture”, adding: 

• AI applications in agricultural management and forecasting 

• Blockchain technology for transparency in agri-food supply chains 

This is a meaningful upgrade of the course, aligning it with current trends and business needs in digital agriculture. 

Concluding, this success story clearly shows that TALLHEDA goes beyond theory and research – it brings real change to university teaching and curriculum design. By integrating digital agriculture topics across three departments at AUA, the project proves its sustainability and long-term impact, setting an example for similar actions in other universities in Europe. TALLHEDA is becoming a driver of academic transformation, helping to build a new generation of agronomists and researchers ready for the future of digital agriculture.