Overview | .space

Explore the fundamentals of organic farming and advisory work – flexibly and professionally.

The OrganicAdviceNetwork project has developed an online basic course that introduces participants to the key principles and practices of organic farming and advisory services.

The course ran from November to February over a period of 12 weeks in a live format and was fully recorded. This allows you to join at any time and benefit flexibly from the content without missing anything – all sessions are available to you at any time, so you can complete the course at your own pace. There is still the opportunity to actively engage with the course content. The course is expected to remain available until September 15, 2026.

This course is open to anyone interested in organic farming, with a particular focus on professionals seeking to gain or expand their expertise in organic farming advice. It is designed to be compatible with full-time work and enables participants to engage in flexible, self-paced learning. The course is free of charge.

Join the Basic Course here

For participation to the Basic Course, a prior registration to the platform OrganicAdviceNetwork.space is required.

Weekly online live sessions from 13 November 2025 to 19 February 2026, including presentations by experts and Q&A sessions
Recordings with subtitles in English, German and French for flexible viewing
Optional deep-dive materials to explore topics at your own pace
Self-assessment tests to track your learning progress
A supportive learning environment with multilingual facilitation and community exchange

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Understand the fundamentals of organic farming and the role of advisory work
Evaluate sustainable strategies for plant protection and animal welfare
Recognize the importance of biodiversity and climate adaptation in organics
Evaluate the steps and challenges of converting to organic farming

Students of agricultural sciences or related disciplines
Recent graduates seeking orientation in the organic sector
Early-career professionals and individuals interested in becoming organic farming advisors
Anyone curious about organic farming – no prior experience required!

Date	Topic
session 1	Organic Farming: A Historical Introduction to the Organic Family
session 2	Organic Principles: Values and Legal Foundations incl. Certification and Control
session 3	Systems Thinking: Soil Fertility as a Core Example
session 4	Crop Production: Managing Nutrients in Organic Systems
session 5	Pest and Disease Control: Strategies for Sustainable Plant Protection
session 6	Weed Control: Strategies and Practices in Organic Farming
session 7	Animal Husbandry: Livestock in Organic Agriculture
session 8	Animal Welfare: Health and Wellbeing in Organic Systems
session 9	Agrobiodiversity: Seeds, Breeding, and Genetic Resources
session 10	Conversion to Organic: Benefits and Challenges
session 11	Climate Adaptation: Strategies for Organic Farming Systems
session 12	Value Addition: Marketing and Consumer Interaction in Organics

Complete all sessions and pass the weekly self-assessment tests to receive your official digital certificate.

Total learning effort: around 30 hours.

The course is supported by staff members from FiBL and ITAB, who provide guidance in English, German, and French.

Our lecturers are subject-matter experts from across Europe who are involved in research and advisory organizations. They are committed to sharing their insights through this innovative learning format.

For registering to the Basic Course, a prior registration to the platform OrganicAdviceNetwork.space is required.

Yes, the course is free.

The question-and-answer sessions integrated into the live sessions provide valuable feedback by showing which points remain unclear and which topics attract particular interest.

Forum contributions – whether subject-related or concerning the course and its concept – also make an important contribution to further development.

The option of adding a short evaluation questionnaire is currently under consideration.

In this case, the issuance of a certificate is not possible.

To obtain the certificate, a self-assessment test must be successfully completed. The test includes two multiple-choice questions for each of the two parts of every session. A session is only counted as completed if all questions for that session are answered correctly.

There is no limit to the number of attempts – the questions can be answered as many times as needed. Once at least 10 out of 12 sessions have been successfully completed, the certificate is issued automatically.

Yes, the live session will be recorded and published a few days later in the same place.

The recording will include accurately generated subtitles.As we use YouTube’s subtitle feature, it will also be possible to view the subtitles translated into many different languages.

To receive the certificate, all test questions must be answered correctly by 15 September 2026.

In spring 2026, after the live course has ended, the course content in the .space will be slightly reorganised. This will change the overall look and feel a bit, but the test questions will remain available and unchanged.