Cultiva: new learning solutions for land-based and allied rural business
Five leading specialist land-based colleges have united to form Cultiva, a new learning and development solution for land-based and allied rural businesses.
Cultiva offers a range of services to business including learning, training and development; innovation and knowledge transfer; research and consultancy; and related quality and business improvement services.
Cultiva replaces the English Land-based Institute of Training and Education and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bishop Burton, Hartpury, Moulton, Myerscough and Sparsholt Colleges located in Beverley, Gloucester, Northampton, Preston and Winchester respectively.
Under the English Land-based Institute of Training and Education, the five colleges have successfully delivered a range of projects including the Forward Farming training programme, a new training programme for people working in the Pig Industry, research into the take up of training and qualifications for the land-based sector, the design of a new programme for vocational students considering progression into Veterinary School, and consultancy services for the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise in Northern Ireland.
Through Cultiva, the five colleges are placing a renewed focus on meeting the national agenda to grow technical skills, innovation and knowledge transfer across the wide range of specialisms in which the colleges work. A number of new training initiatives for the land-based sector are being prepared including the training of National Trust tenant farmers.
The five colleges comprising Cultiva consistently place significant importance on, and investment in developing their own staff expertise and capability through a range of in-house development programmes.
The Executive Director of Cultiva, Alastair Taylor, remarked, “Each of the five colleges has a strong reputation and unrelenting commitment to quality”.
“As a result, the collaboration of these colleges has but one outcome, excellence! The combination of the five colleges and this dedication to excellence affords Cultiva the unique ability to offer a broad range of skills, expertise and experience underpinned by consistent high performance”.
“Add to that the locations of the colleges throughout England and the fact that they are represented by one central point of contact provides compelling reasons why businesses should link with us for their training and development”.
Cultiva is promoting its services as Sustainable Learning Solutions.
Alastair Taylor continued “Sustainable can be an overused term but we truly mean it!
“We seek to develop learning solutions which leave a lasting legacy for business together with good value for money. At the same time, when designing and delivering services, we endeavour to have little and ultimately no negative impact on the environment”
Although the colleges comprising Cultiva are located in five of England’s key economic regions, Cultiva, and its member colleges, view partnerships from across the country, including Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland as being key to the delivery of its services. These include those from the public and private sector as well as other colleges and training providers.
Posted September 2008
