Our final newsletter is out! Check it out here: https://mailchi.mp/2d23c52ddfab/farmid-project-newsletter
Final Conference of the FARMID project – June 18 2020
Press release: FARMID Final Conference
To conclude the FARMID project, the European Landowners’ Organization organised a European dissemination conference online on Thursday 18 June 2020. 43 persons joined us online to discuss the benefits of social farming. To attract the attention of our audience, we started by asking them “what is the best way to promote the employment of People with Mild Intellectual Disabilities?”. Of the 3 options, “to make the public aware of its benefits” came first, followed by “to train the farmers” and finally “to develop European legislation”.
Peter Svetina, the Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman, introduced the conference and stressed the importance of social farming, followed by a presentation of the project results by Ana Ambrožič and Katja Keržič from the Biotechnical Centre Naklo.
They demonstrated the e-learning platform which aims at equipping farmers with the necessary knowledge, skills and competences for the establishment of an on-farm social enterprise with special emphasis on inclusion of PMID through employment on farms. This training programme offers various contents ranging from basic knowledge on mild intellectual disability to entrepreneurship and marketing. It is available in English, Slovenian, German, Spanish, Italian and French, and is available free of charge to all farmers and other interested stakeholders.
We then welcomed three experts in the field to bring in various perspectives. To begin, Suzanne Smyth, a doctoral researcher at Queen’s University in Belfast, who has conducted research on social farming, presented the Northern Irish perspective on social farming, followed by her research on the impacts and benefits of social farming on participants’ health and what should be included in a social farming experience. She said “employment would provide many more benefits than simply improving well-being, it would provide stability and security”.
Ilaria Signoriello, who has been working in the field of social agriculture in Italy since 2007 in social cooperatives, as a university professor, but also in the National Forum of Social Agriculture based in Italy, started her presentation. After presenting the role and actions of several social farming organizations in Italy, she showed us several concrete examples of social farming.
Michael Longhino from one of our partner organisations Chance B, a non-profit organisation operating in the Austrian region of East Styria which ensures that all human beings in need of help can have a fulfilled life, emphasised the potential of social farming as a means of maintaining social life in our rural areas and building communities.
These interesting presentations were followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience, which led to fruitful discussions.
To watch the video of our final conference (in English), click here.
Final Conference of the FARMID project – June 18 2020
Project 2nd Newsletter
4th project meeting in Granada, Spain
The 4th meeting for the FARMID project took place in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Granada, Spain in November 2019. Within the picturesque landscape, the meeting was an opportunity for partners to discuss and view the training modules that had been prepared.
The following day, partners visited el Parque del Seminario which is partly managed by the Centro Especial de Empleo Muncipal Jardines y Naturaleza’. An employment centre that employs people with mild intellectual disability with the aim of securing paid work and the provision of personal and social inclusion services. The centre was established in 1994, and currently employs around 100 people and manages 80% of public gardens in the Jaen municipality. Whilst the centre employs people with a range of different disabilities across their organisation, from gardens to administration staff, one of the biggest challenges is the lack of training provided to this group. Therefore, the centre provides internships, vocational training and work experience in various forms in order to facilitate a transition to employment.
The main goal of the training and work experience provided by the employment centre is to enable them to find work in the private sector. In line with the FARMID project objectives, it is hoped that the barriers and prejudices surrounding people with mild intellectual disabilities will be broken to show that they are hard workers and can be fully active members of the workforce.
The next project meeting will coincide with the final conference held in Brussels, more details to follow
Joint staff training in Slovenia
Joint staff training took place in October 2019. It was organised by Biotechnical centre Naklo and Zavod Grunt.
Kick-Off meeting of the FARMID project
On the 15th and 16th of November 2017, the kick-off and the first meeting of the FARMID project took place at the Biotechnical Center Naklo in Slovenia. The first day was dedicated to the presentation of the project and partners, and on the second day, the partners deepened into the very theme of the project by examining the existing situation in the field of employment of persons with a mild mental disability on farms.
