Growing Outdoor Agrotourism Learning Erasmus Project

Project Title

Growing Outdoor Agrotourism Learning

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

What opportunities can young people who live in a rural area have nowadays in “the Century of Technology”? Are we conscious of the importance of the primary sector? Will it be able to offer opportunities of employment? Do our students have the tools to face the challenge? How can we minimize the early living school? This project have tried to be the answer to these questions.

Ours schools are located in areas closely related to the primary sector and where students see it difficult to have a good future with this lifestyle; therefore, our aim goal was to point out the opportunities of employment in rural areas for students in general, and particularly for those in social disadvantage through innovation and creativeness.

In the European Commissioner´s words: “Common agricultural policy is the link between an increasingly urbanized world and an increasingly strategic agricultural sector. So I have proposed a new association between Europe and farmers about the base of a common agricultural policy as a new form in 2013.” Our project “Growing with Outdoor Agro-tourism Learning” have been an innovative proposal where we have looked at our past to imagine a better future for those people who live in rural areas in which ICT´s, learning languages, cooperation, awareness to be European citizens will have a prominent role.

The partner countries, Spain, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Turkey were chosen in 2014 due to the fact that we share the same profile of students and our realities have many points in common. Almost all the livelihoods of their families are related to the primary sector. GOAL was intended to move people to consider agro-tourism in a rural environment, existing or to be created, as a real option for future employment offers.

The primary objective of our project was the integration of rural reality and agro-tourism in the digital society of 21st century. The approach to this goal leaded us to select the following priorities for GOAL:

– Developing basic and transversal skills using innovative methods
– Enhancing digital integration in learning, teaching, training and youth work at various levels
– Supporting schools to tackle early school leaving (ESL) and disadvantage as well as to address all students from the lowest to the highest end of academic spectrum

Based on these priorities we worked in the following areas:
– Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development)
– ICT – new technologies – digital competences
– Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Our methodology focused on the development of three types of activities:
– Teaching and learning activities in partner institutions (A)
– Mobility activities (C)
– Activities in transnational meetings (M)

All partner centres were involved in a rural environment with development needs and integration with new business models of the 21st century and there are many career opportunities related to agro-tourism. But to join this world of work requires a qualification not always achieved by our students. GOAL have tried to promote access to a job for people in disadvantaged situations, fighting early school leaving and trying to increase the motivation of our students by offering a new vision and a new range of possibilities in their environment.

In the same way, GOAL has sought to improve English language proficiency as a necessary vehicle for our students to access emerging European markets in agro-tourism. It has given them these technological and linguistic tools which provides access to other employment options for the future they had not considered.

All development and planned activities were performed with the intention of producing visible, measurable and lasting impact on the target population of the project: students, teachers, schools, school communities and external agents. The expected impact of the development of GOAL has had an influence at local, regional, national, international and European level. This is due to the fact that among the objectives of our project was the aim of increasing awareness of European agricultural realities in partner countries, strengthening links between them and bringing European common agricultural policy to all the target groups of the project.

In addition, GOAL ensured that this impact reaches as many beneficiaries as possible, trying to disseminate and integrate the results obtained with the ambition of contributing to implement the regional, national and European agricultural policies. Good educational practices learned will be at the service of all networks of centres in a free and permanent way.

So that the objectives of the project are sustainable in time, beyond GOAL, it is necessary that its beneficiaries incorporate into their daily practice the learning derived from its development, achieving permanent changes in centres and improving the methodologies.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 85132 Eur

Project Coordinator

Escuelas Parroquiales del Sagrado Corazon & Country: ES

Project Partners

• ULUGBEY ORTAOKULU
• Obedineno uchilshte “Peyo Kracholov Yavorov”
• Osnovna sola Dramlje