Genebank Academy

In 2025, the Crop Trust launched the Genebank Academy, an online platform designed to strengthen global capacity in genebank operations and the conservation of plant genetic resources. It provides accessible, high-quality training for professionals, researchers and students working to conserve and use crop diversity.

By the end of 2025, the platform hosted 38 online courses covering the full cycle of conserving and making crop diversity available through genebanks. Course providers include the Crop Trust, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the CABI Academy, the Center for Plant Conservation, CGIAR genebanks, Colorado State University, the FAO eLearning Academy, InforMEA, the LiveSeeding project and the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens.

With support from the BOLD project, the Crop Trust is also developing new technical courses on genebank management and operations, alongside modules on reporting, financial management, risk and compliance. In collaboration with the International Plant Treaty Secretariat and the FAO eLearning Academy, a new e-learning series on data management for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture is scheduled for launch in early 2026. Two related introductory courses – on the Global Information System (GLIS) and the Global Crop Conservation Strategies – were released in November.