GCHERA was conceived in 1998 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of National Agrarian University, Ukraine (now the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine) by the then President of Iowa State University (USA), Martin Jischke, Rector of National Agrarian University (Ukraine), Dmytro Melnychuk, and Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture of the Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany), Ernst Lindemann.
The Consortium was formed as a result of shared concern for the future of the planet and a conviction that higher education in agriculture should play a leadership role in solving problems associated with food security and environmental sustainability. The Consortium aimed to include and serve institutions with programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine, and natural resources management, including the biological, physical and social sciences dimensions of these fields. The founders designed the organization to be helpful to institutions worldwide that were working to make significant reforms in their systems of higher agricultural education.
A new Confederation
During the 2009 and 2010 Executive Committee meetings of GCHERA, it was agreed that the organization of GCHERA should evolve towards a Confederation of regional or national Higher Education Associations, with the aim to go beyond the activity of a biennial conference and to emerge as a partner to other international organizations, such as FAO, in the development of sustainable rural economies worldwide.
This evolution was approved at the GCHERA General Assembly meeting of higher education associations on 10 and 11 January 2011
The 7th GCHERA Conference that was held in Beauvais in June 2011 gave representatives of the Global Regional University Associations and the GCHERA Executive Committee members the opportunity to establish this new Confederation during a Founding General Assembly, with direct membership of the Associations instead of the individual universities.
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