Aeres Hogeschool Dronten

About Aeres Hogeschool Dronten

Aeres is a Dutch green-sector education and knowledge organization serving students, professionals, and employers across vocational, higher, and continuing education. Its activities span vmbo, mbo, hbo, practical facilities, research, and training, with a clear focus on the green domain, including agriculture, food, animal care, nature, environment, and related technical fields.

The organization positions itself as a contributor to major societal transitions such as climate, biodiversity, food security, sustainability, and animal welfare. It combines education with practice-oriented learning, research, and collaboration with businesses and public bodies to prepare learners for current and future needs in the green economy.

Core Values

• Green focus: Aeres consistently emphasizes the green domain as its core identity, linking education and training to agriculture, food, nature, environment, and sustainability.
• Practice-based learning: The organization values learning by doing, combining classroom teaching with real-world practice, experiments, and workplace-relevant projects.
• Innovation: Aeres highlights continuous development, new learning methods, and collaboration on innovation projects to keep education aligned with changing sector needs.
• Collaboration: Partnerships with businesses, government, and knowledge institutions are central to how Aeres develops education, research, and professional learning.
• Inclusivity and development: Aeres presents itself as committed to accessible education and to helping learners and professionals grow throughout their careers.

Unique Aspects

• Broad green-sector ecosystem: Aeres operates across vmbo, mbo, hbo, research, and professional training, giving it an unusually integrated position in the Dutch green education landscape.
• Strong practice infrastructure: The organization uses learning farms, practice centers, and sector-specific facilities to connect education with hands-on experience and applied research.
• Aeres Tech expertise: Aeres Tech was expanded through the integration of ACOLE Productions and Fedecom Academy, strengthening its role as a national and international expert center for technical education and development.
• Large continuing-education platform: In 2025, Aeres bundled more than 300 courses and trainings for green professionals under Aeres Training Centre, signaling a substantial lifelong-learning offering.
• External recognition and funding: In 2024, Aeres received a €2 million LLO-katalysator subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to accelerate lifelong learning activities.
• Partnership-driven learning: Aeres works with companies such as ForFarmers on feed trials and with regional education and business networks on technical and green skills development.