Summary
„Seed networking in VET” is Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project which aims to protect sowing endemic seeds, to let the world of VET to know about the value of endemic productions and to combine different European traditions in a shared network of project partners’ countries involved.
The coordinator of the project is SERiL EUROPEA Polska.
SEEDNET is created by partnership – two VET schools from Italy and France, two NGOs working in VET from Estonia and France and two networks of VET schools (EUROPEA) from Poland and Hungary. Partners’ organisations belong to different economic and educational sectors which gives synergy for this project in order to promote the diffusion of native seed saving practices on local, national and European levels.
The target groups of the
SEEDNET project are VET staff members, teachers, trainers and mentors that need a professional growth to answer to new challenges of the labour market. Through the sharing of good practices and knowledge we want to create an interest of different stakeholders about endemic seeds production and safeguard inside a sustainable developing economy, enhance the respect to biodiversity and to safeguard to rural heritage.
Starting from the work based on learning methodology which applied during short-term joint staff training events we will exchange and share good practices, safeguard seeds and ancient species through the creation of local seeds banks, establish models and competencies which are required for building the virtual and real SEED BANK named „Treasure”.
Rationale
The project idea was born in ISISS Piedimonte Matese agricultural school in Italy since this school is keeping a collection of endemic seed that are about 80 years old. The name of this seed collection is “Tesoretto” (small treasure). The collection is located in a specific classroom turned into a small school museum.
All project partners will learn about this collection: through the sharing of good practices and knowledge we want to create a Seed virtual bank. Capturing the interest of reference stakeholders and local policy makers about autochthons seeds safeguard we aim to have a form of sustainable development, to respect biodiversity and to safeguard rural heritage.
Impact
What is the expected impact of SEEDNET project on the participants, participating organisations, target groups and other relevant stakeholders?
These questions we understand as:
- What will be the lasting effect on personal level, team/organization level, and sectoral/schools level, etc?
- What/how approaches in VET has changed after the project has finished?
These changes may be (partially) a result of our Erasmus+ activities and could be linked to the SEEDNET project.
Concerning our main target groups, the following impacts are expected as a direct result of the participation in the project.
- VET educators and professionals will increase their skills about old seeds identification and collection, including also their custody process and will achieve motivation to update their own competencies.
- VET students/learners will increase seed savers level of motivation, interest and responsibility towards to seeds safeguard and gain a greater awareness of being European citizens in many different ways and an increased understanding of the importance to the environmental safeguard through agricultural forms respecting the environment and the biodiversity.
- VET staff of partners organization will gain new methodologies and approaches learned from other trainers and organizations and increase European network for exchange of best practices with the possibility to share them also in the future of follow-up projects.
Through our encouragement on a European level, we hope that stronger European cooperation in the field of VET and labour market training between training centres and public and private enterprises will be established. A network between partner institutions will be established to benefit from the experiences and contacts of each of everyone even after the project has been completed. The project will have a positive impact on the promotion of common traditional values within Europe.
Recognizing a common European practices about old seed preservation is a form of common European heritage and could be a form to safeguard diversity in any field in Europe of the future.
Results
SEEDNET consortium aims to reach those intangible results:
- acquisition of new skills in biodiversity safeguard forVET teachers and providers in partners organizations
- exchange of didactic experience among all teaching staff at international level about specific agricultural topics
- acquire intercultural competences of staff teachers and learners of participating organizations comparing the different EU grow systems
- working together and share good practices to preserve agricultural old knowledge as part of natural European heritage
- SEEDNET networking creation between partners involved, at local, national and European level enhancing EU cultural awareness and knowledge
- five local workshops in each partners’ organization about SEEDNET activities on real and virtual SEEDNET bank treasure implementation
Tangible results
SEEDNET web page https://www.facebook.com/SeedNet-106824054094238/ - design and implementation including all of products generated during the training courses toolkit for teachers and staff. The partnership established during the preparatory phase this page will be linked and managed by ISISS Piedimonte school for at least five years from the end of the project
local SEED BANK implementation and SEEDNET treasure
all material for dissemination results design: brochure of project and poster
didactic materials elaboration such as a multimedia guidelines and toolkit
National Centre for Biodiversity and Gene Conservation Hungary Good practice
video clip and about seed custody process implementation and seed bank build
contents of project Facebook page and others social media elaboration
virtual SEED BANK creation
We are 6 partners from 5 countries
Changing lives, opening minds
Project „Seed network in VET” is co-funded by Erasmus+, the integrated programme with a focus on skills for employment, opportunities for modernising teaching and learning, and new partnerships between the world of work and education.
The Erasmus+ programme supports increased opportunities to study, train, and gain work experience abroad for students and teachers, as well as strategic partnerships such as cross-sectoral cooperation in vocational education and training (VET). It also supports recognition of skills, including those learned outside the formal education system, and fosters entrepreneurship by improving curricula and qualifications through cooperation between the labour market and education. For more information please visit ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/.
To bring Erasmus+ as close as possible to the participants and make sure it works well across different countries, the EU works with National Agencies to manage the programme.
The Polish National Agency Erasmus+ supports transnational partnerships among Education, Training and Youth institutions and organisations to foster cooperation and bridge the worlds of Education and work in order to tackle the skills gaps we are facing in Europe.