The authors of this contribution come from the Institute of Education and Communication of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. This research and training centre has been focussing on initial and continuous vocational education especially in the field of agriculture, forestry, ecology and allied subjects. We would like to share a part of our exploration of current developmental trends of vocational education system in the Czech Republic specifically in the green sector. There are many significant changes affected both by the side of qualification demand (up to date situation in agricultural sector, ongoing processes of rural and regional development) and qualification supply, represented by traditional establishments (mainly vocational agricultural schools) and newly found and rapidly growing new institutions, typically private training and educational companies. Traditional costumers of agricultural vocational schools are disappearing; the student body consists of population living more often in cities than in the countryside and is aiming to other than rural future.

The main aim of this paper is to consider the readiness of traditional providers of vocational education to address services to new target groups in new settings. We analyzed two data sets. Firstly, we conducted a survey within the population of eight districts of the Czech Republic. We compared educational needs among various groups (urban and rural population, different age cohorts, respondents with different social background and specific level of education). Secondly, we inquired selected vocational schools in the same eight districts, investigating their strategic developmental plans and analyzing teachers’ competences to deal with non-traditional students, adult learners or inhabitants of urban areas.

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