Great news for international ag journalists. Find all the details here.

The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has announced a new international education partnership between the college’s Agricultural Leadership, Education & Communications (ALEC) program and the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ). The agreement formalizes plans to launch a Certificate in Global Agricultural Communications, a milestone initiative of the proposed James F. Evans Global Center for Food and Agricultural Communications.

The partnership was unveiled recently at a ceremonial signing between ACES Dean Germán Bollero and IFAJ Vice President Adalberto Rossi. Signing together in the photo.

The certificate — which will be delivered online and available broadly — is being developed by ALEC faculty and is informed by research conducted with IFAJ members. It is designed to be globally accessible, career-relevant, and aligned with the needs of agricultural communicators working across languages, geographies, and media platforms.

This marks the first time IFAJ, a professional organization representing 6,600 members across 62 countries, has committed to an academic collaboration of this scale. The federation voted unanimously to support the initiative, citing the urgent need to prepare communicators to lead in a rapidly evolving, interconnected food system.

“This certificate represents an exciting step forward for the global agricultural journalism community,” said Rossi. “By equipping professionals with critical thinking, multimedia skills, and a global perspective, we can raise the bar for agricultural communications worldwide.”

The certificate will be among the first offerings of the Evans Center, a newly announced hub within ACES that aims to advance education, research, and leadership in food and agricultural communications.