| Quality requisites |
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Eco-friendly Farm Using organic or integrated farming systems or quality local crop productions. Welcoming Farm Providing a warm and sheltered place where learning activities can be carried out in case of bad weather, throughout the year. Fully equipped Farm Having all the necessary furniture and toilet facilities for guests. Educational Farm Offering one or more “active” learning activity, according to the age of students, on some of the following topics: environmental education, taste education, rural education. Safe Farm Complying with the existing health and safety regulations; using access limitation or danger boards, where needed. Farm owners should also ensure they carry out the necessary risk assessment, including risks of food poisoning. Charter of QualityMany Italian regions have passed rules regarding the accreditation of educational farms, by setting specific standards on crucial fields such as safety, training, users’ skills, effectiveness of teaching methods.
The Emilia-Romagna Region has set out standard criteria to select the farms, monitor their quality requisites and the effectiveness of their learning programmes. Production Systems Farmers’ training Welcoming of guests
Provide a warm and sheltered place where learning activities can be carried out in case of bad weather, throughout the year;
ensure you have all the necessary furniture and toilet facilities for guests;
make sure that the area surrounding the farm is clean;
remove any useless piece of equipment or tool that might hinder your guests;
make sure there are suitable areas where kids can eat a snack and play safely; suggest visitors to wear comfortable clothes, appropriate for the season and for outdoor activities. Learning at the Farm
Ensure that the number of hosted children is proportioned to that of the operators of the farm; provide children with support learning material created by the Emilia-Romagna Region, or by other organizations, in addition to specific material of the educational farm;
prior to the visit, arrange with teachers the educational goals you intend to achieve with your class; decide the learning programme according to the age of kids and the purpose of the school programme; use an interactive approach: meetings take place among farmers, children and teachers; provide teachers with an evaluation sheet of their experience at the farm;
provide classes with feedback on their visit and keep a record of classes visiting the farm;
accept monitoring visits from provincial authorities. Safety Ensure that the existing sanitary and safety measures are met, as provided for in sector regulations. |
