Encouragement of natural alternatives and ecological and / or innovative horticultural production measures to promote the consideration of horticultural actions on the protection of the environment in the EU Erasmus Project

Project Title

Encouragement of natural alternatives and ecological and / or innovative horticultural production measures to promote the consideration of horticultural actions on the protection of the environment in the EU

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Environment and climate change; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

The purpose of this project was to provide a supplement to the regular vocational training or school in horticulture and to provide students with an overview of everyday working life, so as to obtain new knowledge and skills on natural alternatives and ecological and / or innovative horticultural production measures which will increase their chances on the European labor market.
Due to this they also will be able to become aware of the influence of horticultural actions on the protection of the environment in the EU.
At the same time the teachers had the chance to benefit from a training in horticultural techniques, to exchange their view of the pedagogical and professional practice which helped them and will help them to design their course more up to professional practice.
To achieve these goals, we selected subjects from different areas of horticulture, which are among the subjects taught by most partners but which often played only a minor role in the curriculum:
– The ecological production of herbs and condiments and their transformation to broaden the range of production and to reinforce the securing of the operating result, as additional pillar of a company;
– The ecological or alternative protection of plants in peri-urban areas in small-scale horticultural production companies, which allows them, in addition, to offer a consulting service to other producers or amateur gardeners;
– The importance of native perennials in horticulture and the use of their cultivars to promote biodiversity in the ecosystem;
– the use of effective micro-organisms to improve soil activity, the suppression of soil-borne plant diseases and thus reduce the use of chemical pesticides;
– The propagation of plants by in vitro culture to obtain virus-free planting stocks and to help secure endangered plant species in their natural habitat, such as native orchids;
– Promote environmental awareness by showing the different possibilities of using native medicinal plants;
– Design of gardens of ecological interest, using native plant species and regional materials as an incentive to create more innovative garden concepts.

These are subjects of horticultural training that were already taught in some countries where teachers showed their approach to colleagues while students had the chance to learn at their schools rather neglected subjects.
The target groups were thus students, especially those in upper secondary education but also students in alternating or social promotion programs, as well as teachers and trainers who were not only accompanying persons but many active participants in these training courses organized in a very practical way. The added value for partner teachers has been increased motivation as they have been able to see how they can incorporate these professional aspects and forms of teaching into their next lessons.
Thanks to the collaboration with companies from the region and the practical implementation of the training, the students were able to observe the direct application of what was learned which led to an increase in their motivation.
Students were able to independently acquire skills and abilities in the required areas, thanks to the high quality basic training we provided them.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 124075 Eur

Project Coordinator

IPEA & Country: BE

Project Partners

• Lycee Technique Agricole
• Räpina School of Horticulture
• IES Ribera del Arga
• la mouillere
• Berufsschule für Gartenbau, Floristik und Vermessungstechnik
• Stowarzyszenie Rozwoju i Promocji Zespolu Szkol Ogrodniczych w Bielsku-Bialej