The "Life from Soil" project is a collaborative approach of 9 partners from 9 European countries. They want to support local sustainability, rural communities and vulnerable target groups through tailored, open-source and tested education processes. The partnership represent all geographic parts of European Union and various non-formal and formal educators active in agricultural, horticultural and environmental sectors. Their target groups range from children, high school and university students through vulnerable groups of rural and city population as well as unemployed, seniors, prisoners up to own staff and teachers, trainers, educators involved in adult and youth education. The overall objective of the project is : Increase the skills and abilities of vulnerable groups of people to be self-dependent, employable, active and competitive in their effort to have and live a sustainable, fruitful and rewarding life. Specific Objectives : 1) Increase the skills and abilities of trainers, teachers, practitioners and representatives of local municipalities in areas of formal and non-formal education. 2) Develop innovative learning and teaching tools that will fulfill the overall objective and satisfy the needs of the trainers and learners in area of social enterprises. The project aims to produce 3 intellectual outputs : a best practice guidebook, modular training course and a demonstration testing site for practical evaluation of educational tools. Through short term staff training and skilled trainer mobilities the project envisages active participation of 200 learners (60 own staff of partners, 60 educators, teachers and local activists, at least 60 high school and university students and at least 20 people participating in demonstration sites). The project will be organized in Work Packages whose management will be conducted by various project partners. The project activities in those work packages are primarily focused on design, preparation, testing and dissemination of educational tools ( best practice guidebook, modular training course and a demonstration testing site for practical evaluation of educational tools). In order to share knowledge, develop skills and establish twinning and lasting relations the project will organize 3 types of transnational learning/teaching activities : a) training of trainers and educators through site visits and expressed needs b) local training (mixed staff and beneficiaries) provided by skilled trainers of partners c) skilled partner trainers delivering tailored training to 3 demonstration sites The project will organize various dissemination platforms, among them 3 dissemination events (2 specific workshops for dissemination of educational tools) and a final dissemination and awareness raising conference. The project outcomes will be demonstrated and tested increase of skills of trainers, educators and activities involved in adult education. Another result is the production of a training package based on best practices and modular training course aiming to influence European educational area. The last result concerns project impact : proved small scale initiative that using and testing project outputs will achieve economic and social sustainability.
The "Life from Soil" project was a joint approach of 9 partners from 9 European countries. They wanted to promote local sustainability, rural communities and vulnerable target groups through tailored educational processes, open and tested. The partnership represents all geographical parts of the European Union and various non-formal and formal educators working in the agricultural, horticultural and environmental sectors. Their target groups range from youth, secondary school students and colleges through vulnerable groups of rural and urban populations as well as the unemployed, seniors, prisoners to their own employees and teachers, trainers, teachers involved in adult and youth education. The overall objective of the project was to: Increase the skills and abilities of vulnerable groups of people to be self-dependent, employable, active and competitive in the pursuit of a lasting, fruitful and enriching life. Specific objectives: 1) To increase the skills and abilities of trainers, teachers, trainees and representatives of local communities in formal and non-formal education. 2) Develop innovative learning and teaching tools that meet the overall goal and meet the needs of social entrepreneurs and students. The consortium of the project consisted of a group of 4 non-governmental organisations (Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, UK) and 2 Universities (Murcia, Pisa), a vocational school (Naklo, Slovenia) and two local action groups (LAGs) of LEADER initiative. Despite the differences and different practices in the process of adult and youth education, both the expert and management teams of the project found common ground and common procedures for implementing the activities. The excellent communication ability of all participants to communicate in English, as well as the skills necessary for the implementation of activities and managerial tasks, contributed to this. The project was organized in work packages managed by various project partners. The project activities in these work packages were primarily focused on the design, preparation, testing and dissemination of learning tools (a best practice guide and a modular training course including demonstration test mobility for practical assessment of learning tools). In order to share knowledge, develop skills and create twinning and lasting relationships, the project has organized three types of transnational learning / teaching activities: a) based on an analysis of training needs of trainers and educators through on-site visits to the selected partner (b) local training (mixed staff and beneficiaries) provided by qualified trainers of the partners c) Qualified partners preparing specialised training for 3 demonstration and test sites (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary). The project has organized 8 five-day training courses for partner staff and their target groups. All courses and seminars were professional and very well prepared with excellent referrals and evaluations of participants, three dissemination events and 5 multinational meetings, which besides management issues were also devoted to professional discussions for the preparation of intellectual outputs. The project has organised various information dissemination platforms, including three dissemination actions (2 specific workshops for the dissemination of training tools in the framework of testing mobilities) and a final dissemination conference for dissemination and awareness raising. The project has created 2 mental outputs: a good practice guide and a modular training course - a demonstration test for the practical evaluation of educational tools. The guide, which is available in 8 partner languages in electronic form, has received a great deal of appreciation and a keen interest in its use. It is available on the project portal, promoted through social networks and partners' websites, and on the VALOR platform. The modular training jury consists of 9 double-sided modules, available in the same platform as the handbook. The sustainability of the project is ensured by an open platform for uploading of new best practices to the existing Guidebook as well as adding modular courses to an existing packages. There is is a strong interest among the partners for follow up activities. Currently, an investment project is being prepared, which, according to the model of Ryton Gardens, UK, will establish new therapeutic gardens in Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine. Among other things, participants of education and dissemination activities are more interested in cross-border co-operation in the field of self-sufficiency development and social enterprises and already started cooperation.