About FAO News Multimedia Main topics Statistics Members Publications

Youth and the United Nations Global Alliance (YUNGA)

CultivatED

CultivatED is a Global School‑Based Agrifood Systems Education initiative designed to strengthen and expand the experiential model piloted in Italy in 2025.

The programme equips students from primary through secondary school – and their educators – with the knowledge, skills and leadership capacities needed to contribute to agrifood systems transformation. Implementation is coordinated through FAO Country Offices, WFF National Youth Chapters, education institutions and external partners, with schools engaged in every FAO region.

Through a structured "Discover–Design–Develop" learning cycle, schools engage with YUNGA Challenge Badges, FAO technical masterclasses, WFF School Assemblies and guided student‑led local action projects – all supported by the CultivatED Training Toolkit.

The project is structured around three pillars:

Discover
During the Discover phase, schools and educators engage with the CultivatED framework through two core components:

YUNGA Challenge Badges are educational resources for teachers and educators that aim to raise awareness, educate and motivate change in behaviour and support young people to become active agents of change in their local communities. The badges build foundational knowledge, critical thinking and practical action on sustainability issues. Completion of the badges forms the basis for school recognition and progression within the CultivatED curriculum framework.

CultivatED masterclasses – covering both technical and soft skills – provide globally recognized, action-oriented learning modules on agrifood systems themes. 
Design

The Design phase centres on collective reflection, peer exchange and co-creation. Schools participate in School Assemblies, where students and educators present learning outcomes, refine project concepts and align local initiatives with global agrifood priorities. Schools in Italy are invited to attend the WFF Global School Assembly in Rome in person, while schools outside Italy join online. 

School Assemblies are also held at local and national levels, known as ''Decentralized School Assemblies''. This is a a space for schools within each country to come together, share experiences and present learnings generated during the Discover phase, including YUNGA Challenge Badges.
Develop

During the Develop phase, schools implement locally grounded projects responding to identified agrifood challenges. Projects may focus on school food environments, community outreach, awareness campaigns or practical innovations.

Schools demonstrating strong engagement are recognized through two awards:

CultivatED WFF School Recognition Awards – presented at the WFF Global School Assembly upon successful completion of all phases – is both a recognition and an opportunity to become a "World Food Forum CultivatED School" for outstanding engagement in agrifood systems themes, alongside CultivatED certificates of participation and a physical YUNGA Challenge Badge.

CultivatED WFF Champion Awards formally recognizes teachers who complete the full CultivatED journey with their students as "World Food Forum CultivatED Champions". This recognition includes capacity building in project-based learning, agrifood systems education and soft skills facilitation, as well as certificates of participation.