Hamburg, January 13, 2025. The e-learning platform of the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), established by Prof. Dr. Michael Otto, offers new training modules, creative teaching methods, and numerous opportunities for content customization. Its objectives are to ensure the dependable application of The Good Cashmere Standard® and to improve the conditions of producers, animals, and the environment through efficient knowledge transfer.
Partnering trainers, auditors, and producers have free and automatic access to an extensive training curriculum through the Aid by Trade Foundation’s digital training platform. It offers training materials on a range of animal welfare topics in addition to basic seminars on the fundamentals of The Good Cashmere Standards® (GCS). There is also a knowledge library with complete versions of papers like the standard.
“As an innovative knowledge hub, the e-learning platform enables our partners to develop valuable expertise to meet the ever-growing challenges they face.” “The high volume of positive feedback from our auditors and producers, as well as the use of training materials that can be downloaded and printed out for the herders, show how important the e-learning platform is for an impact-oriented organization like us,” says Figo Li, the GCS representative in China. Our success and reputation as a dependable and solution-focused standards organization are built on a complex and trustworthy implementation strategy.
The e-learning platform is steadily being refined and expanded, with its modules now featuring interactive elements and quizzes in addition to videos and images. The focus is on user-friendliness and individuality, meaning that the users themselves determine which learning goal they want to achieve or which webinar they want to complete, for instance, selecting and scheduling them depending on their personal needs, level of knowledge, and time constraints.
“An important new feature of the platform is its modular system, which gives trainers the opportunity to design training courses individually, such as an animal-welfare course for herders that is tailored to local conditions and to the trainers’ needs,” says Vanessa Löwenich, the project manager for GCS training and implementation at the Aid by Trade Foundation.
Since its introduction in 2022, the e-learning platform has been growing continuously. In future, it will be used for all AbTF standards as it plays a key role in providing partners with the necessary tools and knowledge to address specific requirements within the scope of the standards. What does an Inner Mongolian model farm for cashmere goats actually look like? How can the use of sustainably produced cashmere fibres be verified? And how do goat herders in Inner Mongolia protect biodiversity in their environment? Learn more about sustainable cashmere production at the 2025 Good Cashmere Conference in Hamburg. Explore one of our model farms in Inner Mongolia through virtual reality, and hear international speakers give exclusive insights into the topics of biodiversity, animal welfare, and virtual reality as well as due diligence in the supply chain.
