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GARDEM

GARDEM – Community gardens: Forward-looking learning centres for democratic values

The project aims to turn community gardens into local learning centres for adult education.

Grant Agreement Number: 2021-1-NO01-KA220-ADU-000033613

Funded by: Erasmus+      Duration: 28/02/2022 – 27/02/2024


Challenge

Voluntary civic participation and activities which encourage it are critical to the strengthening of democratic political culture and values, especially these days that a democratic backsliding can be observed across the globe.

There are several initiatives in strengthening democratic attitudes through recreational activities, such as community gardening. The logic of these actions is to encourage civic participation and create civil society, through social inclusion.

Turning spaces such as community gardens into learning centers and adult education spaces, which will provide guided activities and participation, is an innovative approach to tackle the declining support for democracy through guided civic voluntary participation. 

Innovation

The GarDem project is working towards turning community gardens into local learning centres for adult education, developing guidance on the organisation and supporting the operation of such environments. Its purpose is to strengthen democratic attitudes through civic engagement and civic participation, as well as to promote resilience and adaptability to the changes and uncertainties due to the climate crisis.

Action

The GarDem training aims at developing and providing a) a good practice guide of community gardening projects on civic engagement and social inclusion to improve the effectiveness of the provision of the training to the adult learners, b) a training material for adult participants in the learning centres, and c) a training material for trainers in the learning centres, which will offer guided activities developed for participants interested in gardening.

This blueprint aims at designing and providing all the necessary information, methodology, and management plan for transforming community gardens into forward-looking learning centres which will provide lifelong learning opportunities to the participants. Moreover, according to this blueprint and methodology, adult education providers and CSOs of other sectors (than gardening), would be able to use it as a foundation for adaptation of their learning centres in their preferred sectors, for example, art, or sports.

This b-learning “training for trainers” module is addressed to law enforcement authorities and justice practitioners. Its aim is to reinforce their skills in the assistance to victims, as well as their work on hate crimes and the institutional discrimination.

This result aims at piloting the blueprint and transforming existing community gardens in the consortium countries into learning centres for adult education. The outcomes will be used by the partners to design and develop a roadmap, serving as a guide for gardening or environmental organisations or learning centres adopting the GarDem model during the journey of their project.

This network will be used by the organisations responsible for running the GarDem learning centres and the adult participants networking in partners’ regions. It will allow them to share experiences and tips on gardening but, most importantly, establish a network of gardening enthusiasts from the consortium countries.

European Commission’s support for the production of this content does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Project Partners

KMOP – Social Action and Innovation Centre (Greece)
Nabolagshager (Norway)
KMOP – Policy Center (Belgium)
Organization Earth (Greece)
Gain & Sustain: Europe (Austria)
Provincia Di Livorno Sviluppo (Italy)
XHY / Agency of Understanding (Lithuania)

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