Learn4Health Erasmus Project

Project Title

Learn4Health

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 higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development)

Project Summary

Learn4Health was created as a response to European policies, addressing challenges regarding health, nutrition and obesity prevention at institutional and individual level. Several European policies have identified the need for new, innovative reforms in relation to food, eating, nutrition and health of young people and in specific focusing on food practices of children and the curricular activities that can address these practices and topics in schools. To address such new and innovative reforms, the Learn4Health has worked with interdisciplinary networks and collaborations to make as much impact as possible, combining practice with scientific research. Learn4Health was created to develop skills, methods, collaborative approaches and to enhance food literacy and meet challenges of health, nutrition and obesity prevention through an interdisciplinary collaborative approach.

The objective of Learn4Health is to employ children’s everyday food and health practices as learning and teaching contexts for developing problem-based activities, placing pupils in hands-on authentic food activities in everyday contexts. Further, development and assessment of instruments to meet the integration of food practices across different educational and food contexts and aiming at creating sustainability on food and nutrition reforms efforts by providing key professional development activities for teachers in the process of making them Learn4Health ambassadors.

12 organisations have come together to develop, implement and evaluate new and innovative tools, methods and approaches to Hands-on Food Activities (HOFAs) with the goal of improving health and nutrition and prevent obesity for children now and in the long term. Leading the project is Aalborg University from Denmark, with partners from Arden Skole from Denmark, Fundacio per a la Universitat Oberta de Catalunyaand Garbí Pere Vergés from Spain, Centre for Health and Development Murska Sobota and Primary School Franceta Prešerna Črenšovci from Slovenia, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences and Karmelava Balys Buracas Gymnasium from Lithuania, Health Education Trust and Haworth Primary School from the United Kingdom, and Wageningen University & Research and De Hoge Hof from the Netherlands.
It is important to mention that the lead and executive manager at AAU is not the same as the original applicant.

To enhance the food literacy of children, Learn4Health has successfully developed, implemented and evaluated new and innovative objectives in relation to food, eating, nutrition and health. The activities combine practical and scientific knowledge and experience, placing the children in learning and teaching opportunities in everyday food contexts. This provides the teachers and pupils to work problem-based, providing real everyday food contexts and through co-creation, creating new possibilities, experiences and action competencies as for example farm-to-table approach through new skills, and methods. The pupils have also gained entrepreneurial skills, worked with gardening, kitchens, and other food related contexts, and the methods developed during the project period, have also included possibilities of combining Hands-on Food Activities with other school subjects. The project has successfully developed 8 Hands-on Food Activities. Further, the children have also been working with practitioners in the field of food and food systems, where local food professionals have provided the pupils with insight to i.e. farming. The combination of practice and research within everyday food contexts has proven to increase the food knowledge within the pupils, providing them with action competencies to act and react in a better, more sustainable and healthy way in regards to food and food surroundings now and in the future.

To secure the sustainability of the Learn4Health project, all of the Hands-on Food Activities, the results and the assessments are collected in the HOFA Handbook which is publicly available on the project website.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the strengthening of teacher competencies has been an important objective in the Learn4Health project, as teachers has gained key professional competencies and knowledge, through the interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches. The Hands-on Food Activities have provided the pupils with great new knowledge within the theme of food, health and nutrition, but also provided teachers with new learning and teaching skills, methods and approaches, securing the sustainability of the project.

Based on the evaluations received, we can conclude that the project had a significant impact on the participants. More than 10.000 people have been reached through the project, 4 scientific conference papers have been published targeting practitioners and the didactical society, and several large-scale dissemination activities were made for the general public.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 284302,06 Eur

Project Coordinator

AALBORG UNIVERSITET & Country: DK

Project Partners

• Fundació Escoles Garbí
• Karmelava Balys Buracas Gymnasium
• Schoolvereniging de hoge hof
• HEALTH EDUCATION TRUST LTD
• CENTER ZA ZDRAVJE IN RAZVOJ MURSKASOBOTA ZAVOD
• Arden Skole
• WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY