Under the Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships in Vocational Education and Training (VET), the kick-off meeting and technical meetings of the Raising Awareness on Reducing Carbon Footprint in IPARD Enterprises (CARBODIGIPARD) Project — coordinated by the Agricultural and Rural Development Support Institution (ARDSI) in partnership with Isparta University of Applied Sciences, Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University, the University of South Bohemia (Czech Republic), the IPARD Agency of Serbia, and the Lithuanian Paying Agency — were held in Ankara on 13–14 January 2026.
The meeting opened with a speech by ARDSI President Dr. Ahmet Antalyalı and was attended by Fortunatas Dirginčius, Director of the Lithuanian National Paying Agency (NMA), Leyla Alma, Sector Manager at the EU Delegation to Türkiye, project teams designated by the project partners, representatives from relevant public institutions, universities, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and other related civil society organisations.
Following a project briefing presentation delivered by ARDSI General Coordinator for Project Services and CARBODIGIPARD Project Coordinator Selda Coşkun, technical meetings were held with the participation of all project partners. The two-day programme concluded with a field visit to a cold storage facility supported under the IPARD Programme in the Gölbaşı district of Ankara.
The CARBODIGIPARD Project, implemented under the Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships in VET (KA220-VET) programme and coordinated by ARDSI, had previously been awarded a grant following the technical evaluations carried out by the Turkish National Agency in the first call period of 2025.
The Project, to be implemented over 26 months, aims to enhance the knowledge and skills of IPARD enterprises in the food, agriculture and livestock sectors regarding carbon footprint through scientific and innovative approaches, to promote the effective use of digital tools, to strengthen the “carbon zero” concept, and to support enterprises in complying with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) requirements of the European Green Deal.
Within the framework of the Project’s next activity, parameter studies are planned to be completed for the 5 main sectors in which carbon footprint research will be conducted: beef production, dairy production, meat processing, dairy processing, and fruit and vegetable packaging and cold storage.
