| What is an educational farm? |
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Educational farms, also known as teaching farms, are agricultural holdings that host school trips, families and adults' groups. Their activities are aimed at fostering communication between farmers and citizens, especially children. Educational farms open their doors to schools and visitors by offering them a wide range of opportunities. Young visitors, who will be future consumers, are actively involved in several activities that help farmers build with them a stronger and long lasting relationship. Moreover, the activities organized at the farm aim to strengthen the link between city and countryside, raising awareness of the agricultural environment, the origins of food products and the animals' life. Educational farms offer young people a unique chance to discover the importance of farmers' work. There is a growing interest around educational farms as they provide people with opportunities to improve their understanding of various environmental aspects: social, economical, technical, political and cultural ones. Educational farms perfectly match local cultural policies with innovative educational activities carried out at school. Besides this, quality land education is very important and must be developed starting from local communities where schools are located. School trips to farms represent for children outstanding learning opportunities, provided that they are suitably prepared by teachers and well integrated in the educational offer. The farm is a place where children can learn at first-hand, understand the origin and use of farming products and, not least, learn more about nutrition. The farm is also a meeting place, where farmers exchange their views with children, teachers, adults, etc. Each farm is unique as it witnesses local agricultural and land diversity, promotes local products and, most of all, raise awareness of the role of farmers. Farmers, on the other hand, play a crucial role as they pass on their knowledge and passion for this work. Animation FarmsAnimation farms, also known as City Farms, have mostly developed in Northern Europe. They are normally located in urban areas and their activities are aimed at allowing children and adults from cities to visit farms and see their animals and plants. Animation farms are often situated in public buildings and managed by animators and volunteers of non-profit organizations.
1) Institutions Associations, private citizens and local governments can establish an educational farm, as a non-profit association. 2) Facilities and activities The farm is made up of several dedicated buildings, animals, lands and tools, all together ensuring production. Animation farms must have the necessary material to allow each child to take active part in animation activities. The activities performed at the farm should involve: A number of children selected on the basis of quality and safety requirements (around 8 children); Trained and passionate staff that put all their efforts into managing the farm and achieving educational goals through the animation activities. Animation farms also meet educational, social, medical and cultural goals... 3) Values of educational activities Animation farms aim to promote the values of democracy such as tolerance, solidarity, integration, cooperation, commitment, responsibility, autonomy and civic pride. 4) Farm Location Cities and surroundings or countryside Animation farms allow you to:
Educational approaches: When performing their activities, animation farms adopt the following educational approaches:
Animation farms pay great attention to their environmental impact, mainly because they produce goods and use natural products. Their behaviour should make us reflect on the effects of our actions and help us make more responsible choices. Animation farms offer various opportunities to think about the effects of human activities on the society and on natural ecosystems. |
