The project "FARM HUB - Work In The Nature" was aimed at the regeneration and networking of rural and marginalized areas with the rest of the territory and the world through the co-design of co-working spaces. These centers provide essential resources for local activists and educators working with disadvantaged groups. The FARM HUBs serve as shared community spaces, equipped with PCs, Wi-Fi connections, co-working areas and brainstorming spaces. In particular, the partners collaborated to achieve the following objectives: 1. Training local activists and educators in co-designing co-working centers in rural areas through non-formal education and group-building activities. 2. Connecting European rural areas by co-designing, creating, and implementing co-working spaces in nature, supporting associations and educators in social and inclusive outdoor activities. 3. Fostering local and EU networking to promote inclusive and green education initiatives.
We applied for this project based on joint interest in developing co-working spaces in rural areas. At the time of writing the proposal, both partner organisations - Lab Futura and Foreste Urbane - had a long track-record working on this topic in their countries/regions. We had been working locally and wanted to create synergy and bring the activities to a European level. We acknowledged that educators, adults’ educators, local activists and other people are missing skills and knowledge on how to co-design such spaces and how to ensure the sustainability and usefulness of such sites for all the community. Therefore we created the “FARM HUB” project to provide trainers with knowledge, skills and non-formal education tools to use with their own target groups to design and set up smart spaces useful for social and co-working activities in rural and green areas. Secondly, we wanted to provide rural communities with relevant know-how on how to establish maintain and use spaces for social issues and co-working. Finally, we wanted to share good practices and experience stories about co-designing and setting up co-working spaces in rural areas, which act not only as shared offices but also for social indoor and outdoor activities.