Twenty-five educators from nineteen countries took part in the content-development workshop. Similar to the past seven "boot camps", this session provided hands-on training in ICT skills and course materials development.

Sustainable agriculture is especially important in small states, most of which depend largely on agricultural imports. The Government of Maldives, for example, wants to reduce the importation of agricultural goods by twenty per cent and believes the solution lies in investing in human resource development through quality education. The new VUSSC diploma programme, which will be finalised through online collaboration over the next four months, covers the business aspects of agriculture, including how to establish a viable agricultural enterprise.

"This was our most productive VUSSC workshop to date", explained Mr. John Lesperance, COL Education Specialist, VUSSC. "The participants honed their expertise in online course development and have committed to training five colleagues in their home countries. In this way, VUSSC continues to build a cadre of experts throughout the Commonwealth."

VUSSC is led by a Management Committee representing small states in all regions of the Commonwealth. All VUSSC course materials are freely available online for adaptation and reuse by anyone.