Once again, our foundation has received funding for development through the Erasmus+ Adult Education program. This time, our focus is on our team. We will be traveling to foreign organizations and communities to enhance our permaculture and agroecological skills and learn new training methods and ways of building sustainable communities.
The project’s goal is to enhance our competencies so that we can enrich our educational program and better meet the needs of the individuals participating in our training and workshops. We have planned visits to various organizations and communities because we believe in a comprehensive approach to education, one that combines elements of permaculture, agroecology, and social skills. We aim to teach working with the land, develop civic competence, and cultivate the ability to work in empathetic and supportive groups.
Twelve job shadowing visits and four courses – that’s what awaits us in the coming months!
During a job shadowing visit, a participant closely observes the work of an organization similar to our foundation, collecting best practices and gaining a deeper understanding of training methodologies and ways of organizing activities. The goal is to adapt these practices to our environment and local needs. Through in-depth discussions with members of the visited organization, the visiting person can learn about the challenges faced by similar institutions abroad and how they overcome them. As part of the project, eight individuals will spend a total of over six months observing the work of organizations in Germany, Norway, Spain, and Portugal.
We will be visiting, among others, Priznessinengarten in Berlin. This organization is known for its civic activities and involving Berlin residents in shaping urban and local policies related to ecology, food sovereignty, and climate adaptation. Agro-Perma-Lab members, Klaudia and Paulina, will learn about the tools used to engage a diverse local community in the fight against climate change and the strengthening of food sovereignty.
We will also return to La Bolina, a wonderful community located in southern Spain, which hosted us during four training sessions in the autumn of 2022. La Bolina is a project that combines permaculture and regenerative agriculture, attempts to repopulate rural areas characterized by significant emigration to cities, and supports individuals with migration experience. During our stay in La Bolina, we will further develop cooperation skills and community-based building of a solidarity-based local economy.
Thanks to a visit to the Norwegian Permaculture Association, Joanna will deepen her skills in preparing and conducting educational activities related to permaculture and participate in study visits to demonstration farms and community gardens.
We will also learn about new topics! Aleksandra will visit the Netherlands, where she will observe the work of individuals involved in creating green roofs. This experience will help her enhance her skills in rooftop garden care, expand her knowledge of plant species grown in this environment, and learn techniques and tools used in such cultivation.
During these visits, all participants will also learn participatory and democratic facilitation techniques for workshops and training, as well as methods of socio-ecological transformation in both rural and urban areas.
Joanna, Klaudia, Paulina, and Aleksandra will also participate in training courses to further their training skills. Agro-Perma-Lab members will visit Catalonia and Tenerife in Spain, where they will expand their knowledge of modern ecological education methods and inclusive permaculture education. These courses will introduce them to new workshop tools and activities that will be incorporated into our foundation’s educational offerings in the future.
We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to develop our competencies! The trips and experiences gained will provide fertile ground from which we will draw to build holistic educational programs. It will be wonderful to share this knowledge with you!
The “EduGlow” project is funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ project.