Across Europe, more and more people are experiencing food poverty as the cost of living increases including the price of food. In days gone by, people had the knowledge and capacity to be able to grow their own food, but this is no longer the case. Growing in allotments and cooking at home are both declining skills amongst those populations. Fewer young adults in difficulty know how to : - Grow vegetables and fruit - Cook for themselves - Use plants to create or decorate Our project aims to develop vegetable education for persons in difficulty through actions such as : - creation of methods, teaching and intellectual tools on Web, - creation of a better living using vegetables, through the work of coaches, trainers, social workers, following the model of the facilitators innovated by "Les Anges Gardins". - dissemination and communication on a new range of services towards the targeted public. Through this project partners will share their experiences (effective methods transfer), co-create new approaches to use vegetables to bring knowledges and skills to a public with social and employment difficulties. We identify 4 domains : 1. Gardening (growing vegetables, flowers) 2. Cooking (to feed oneself, to please) 3. Creation&beauty (transforming-using for creative arts) 4. Nature (knowing and using wild plants for eating) The program is thus going to allow the emergence of the NETPLANTS' network , a facilitators for good-living with vegetable's network : - Creation of contents for the animation of workshops for people in difficulty - Creation of free and downloadable online courses - Creation of a social networks community, on Youtube and Facebook - Kits for educational suitcases - Recommendations for the local, national and European politics for integration The co-construction between trainers and trainees through experimental activities of training, evaluation time and co-construction of educational methods make all together the originality of project. Will be part of the project : - 76 persons in difficulty - 24 professionnals - more than 600 partners (local authorities, social workers, adult education organizations...) during the national dissemination seminars Thanks to the network development, to the public financing within the framework of politics of integration, to the support of foundations and private companies which are more and more interested in the link between vegetable and human resources, the program is economically viable and its continuation wished as possible.
The project is based on the observation that in Europe food poverty increases along the increase in the living costs, including that of food; this poverty implies a decrease in quality and the loss of a balanced diet, what is detrimential to consumers' health, environmental balance and biodiversity. In the more or less recent past, depending on the country and traditions, families possessed the skills and had the capability and the possibility to produce their own food; they cultivated a garden, knew the wild plants that could feed them, or used them for decorative and cosmetological purposes. Plants are available to everyone and can grow anywhere including balconies. They are good for the health, the environment and personal well-being. They are inexpensive and can make a big difference in people's lives. The purpose of the Netplants project is to enable a public in social and professional fragility to discover or rediscover the usefulness of plants to increase their autonomy, to develop their abilities and thereby to share these "plant" knowledge and practices with other people. The Netplants project brought together six partners, actors of social inclusion spread across five countries: France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Romania. In the spirit of food ambassadors, associations and non-governmental organizations Afidel (coordinator - France), Angels Gardins (France), SuperAct (UK), Kowc (Ireland), Insitutul Bucovina (Romania) and El Tranvia (Spain) have decided to set up a European network of facilitators for a better living with plants. Our project aims to develop plant-related education and culture through actions such as: - the creation of practical guides, quizzes, educational kits, online courses around four themes (Cooking with plants, Gardening without means, Decoration and cosmetics with plants, Consume wild plants) available in four languages. - spreading and communicating a series of services to the target audience (young adults with social and economic difficulties). The Netplants project brought together 70 people from the target audience and 22 trainers around practical training courses that took place in each of the partner countries. Throughout the program, participants positively evaluated all these meetings on the organization of the internship, the agenda of the stay, the workshop themes as well as the quality of explanations. Today, more than 740 people follow the Facebook pages of the Netplants program across Europe. More than an exchange of good practices, the Netplants project has given all participants an alternative vision of food, self-esteem through the pleasure of doing by himself and a genuine openness to other cultures. . Beyond the European program, this experience continues in France. The Netplants well-being workshops are integrated into the socio-professional support programs at AFIDEL and are now part of a more global approach to access to food for the poor and promote balance and food quality: Cocagne AlimenTerre. Partner news and publications are still available on the website www.netplants.eu and the Youtube channel of the project.