Agriculture sits at the center of some of the most pressing challenges of our time. Climate change, soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and increasing volatility in food systems are forcing societies to rethink how food is produced and how farming systems are managed. At the same time, agriculture remains essential for livelihoods, rural economies, and global food security.
In response, a growing number of approaches aim to make farming systems more resilient and ecologically grounded. While these ideas are gaining momentum in farming practice, policy debates, and the private sector, an important question remains:
How is regenerative agriculture reflected in European higher education?
Higher education plays a critical role in shaping the knowledge, skills, and perspectives of future farmers, advisors, researchers, and policymakers. Master’s programs in particular often act as gateways into leadership roles in the agricultural sector. Understanding what is taught in these programs therefore offers valuable insight into how agricultural transformation may unfold in the coming decades. To explore this question, we conducted a systematic analysis of European Master’s-level agricultural programs and examined how regenerative agriculture and related concepts appear within their curricula.
How the study was conducted
The study followed a systematic scoping approach to map the current landscape of agricultural Master’s education in Europe. First, agricultural Master’s programs across European universities were identified through a structured search of university websites, higher education databases, and program catalogues. This process resulted in 207 programs with substantial agricultural content. In a second step, programs were screened for their relevance to sustainability-oriented farming systems. Programs primarily focused on topics such as agroecology, sustainable agriculture, organic farming, or related systems perspectives were selected for deeper analysis. This filtering resulted finally in 23 Master’s programs that formed the core dataset of the study. For these programs we collected:
- Program descriptions
- Specializations and study tracks
- Full course lists
In total, 508 individual courses were analyzed. The courses were coded using a thematic framework to identify which topics were most prominent and where gaps might exist. In addition, each program was assessed for its level of experiential learning, including internships, fieldwork, farm engagement, and applied projects. This was summarized using a comparative practicality score. The goal was not to rank universities, but to better understand how regenerative agriculture is currently reflected in higher education.
Key findings
Several clear patterns emerged from the analysis:
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- Agroecology is relatively higher represented: Across the programs analyzed, agroecology-related content was widespread. Many courses addressed food systems, governance, rural development, and socio-economic dimensions of agriculture. This reflects the long-standing academic development of agroecology as both a scientific field and a movement focused on transforming food systems. Regenerative agriculture, by contrast, is still evolving conceptually and institutionally. Its integration into universities appears to be lagging behind its growing presence in farming practice and policy discussions.
- Regenerative agriculture is rarely named explicitly: While regenerative agriculture is gaining visibility globally, explicit references within university curricula were limited. Only a small number of courses directly used the term “regenerative agriculture.” More commonly, regenerative principles appeared implicitly within broader courses on topics such as soil science, agroecosystem design, biodiversity, sustainable crop management or agroforestry. This suggests that many foundational concepts associated with regenerative agriculture are already being taught, but not necessarily framed under that label.
- Soil-centered and biophysical regeneration topics appear less frequently: Another notable pattern was the relatively modest representation of courses specifically focused on soil regeneration, ecosystem functioning, and long-term ecological processes. While ecological foundations were present, they were often addressed conceptually rather than through applied regeneration approaches such as soil carbon dynamics, functional biodiversity design, or restoration-oriented farm management.
- Experiential learning varies widely: Agriculture is inherently practical, yet many programs remain strongly classroom-oriented. The study’s practicality assessment showed that some programs integrate internships, farm collaborations, and field projects. However, many others provide limited structured opportunities for hands-on learning. Expanding field-based learning, internships, and partnerships with farmers could significantly strengthen educational outcomes.
Opportunities for curriculum development
The findings highlight several opportunities for universities and educators.
Make regenerative principles more visible. Where regenerative concepts are already taught, explicitly naming and connecting them can help students recognize the broader framework they are engaging with.
Expand experiential learning. Internships, farm-based projects, and living laboratories can help bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Strengthen stronger integration of biophysical regeneration processes. Courses that focus on long-term ecosystem processes, soil health, and biodiversity design could play a more central role in future curricula.
Build bridges between agroecology and regenerative agriculture. Rather than competing paradigms, these approaches share many principles and can complement each other within educational programs
Looking ahead
Agricultural education is evolving alongside the challenges facing global food systems. Universities are increasingly engaging with sustainability-oriented approaches, and the foundations for regenerative thinking are already present in many places. At the same time, making these ideas more explicit, practice-oriented, and systematically integrated could help prepare the next generation of agricultural professionals for the realities of farming in a rapidly changing world.
Building on these insights, we are currently collaborating with partner universities to develop a dedicated regenerative agriculture track within existing Master’s programs. The aim is to make regenerative principles more explicit, practice-oriented, and academically grounded while complementing the strong agroecological foundations already present in many curricula.
