Croatia

Course Description

University of Tennessee students will have the opportunity to participate in a 22 day (three days in travel to and from Europe and 19 days in-program) study abroad program focused on Digital Agriculture production systems in Croatia. The course includes 36 hours of teaching contact time, 27 hours of Digital Agriculture educational tours and visits to five UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The program will be based out of the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, but will include educational programs at the University of Zadar, Croatia and the University of Zagreb, Croatia as well as cultural programs at various locations in Croatia. 

The program is designed to introduce students to the use of digital agriculture in European production systems via both classroom lectures by university faculty working in the Digital Agriculture field and experiential learning during visits to European farms and agricultural processing facilities utilizing Digital Agriculture in real-world settings. Students will visit both university laboratories and full-scale production systems to learn about the use of digital agriculture in animal production and processing, aquaculture, row-crop, horticulture and viticulture production systems. In addition students will learn about, and see examples of the circular relationship between livestock and cropping systems, as well as their transition to climate-smart production systems, and the production of renewable energy from agricultural biomass and by-products during the program. Study abroad students will participate in lectures within the Digital Agriculture Program at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, Croatia (FAZOS).  In addition to attending lectures, students will participate in experiential learning activities in the FAZOS Laboratory for Biomass and Renewable Energy Sources in Osijek, and in the Laboratory for Biomass Research in Agriculture at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture (FAZ), Department of Ecology, Agriculture & Aquaculture at the University of Zadar, Croatia.

In addition to the Digital Agricultural activities, students will be provided with opportunities to learn about the history and culture of the region through planned cultural visits to visits in Hungary, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Students will visit historical locations in Osijek, Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb, and Zadar, Croatia as well as Budapest, Hungary and Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cultural outings will include visits to the Krapina Neanderthal Site in Krapina, Croatia as well as five UNESCO World Heritage Cultural and Natural sites that include the Buda Castle and Quarter in Budapest, the Old City Dubrovnik, the Historical Complex of Split, Plitvice Lakes National Park, and the Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar.