Social Farming and Rural skills Section 1.1 The Green activites

1. Social Farming and Rural skills Section 1.1 The Green activites Provided by SAN MICHELE ARCANGELO

2. Objectives The objective of this module is to illustrate the different types of agricultural activities and the benefits for the users. Afterwards it will be indicated the main motivations in the choice of the activity, focusing attention on the multifunctional concepts of the agricultural business and the adoption of eco-compatible methods.

3. Learning outcomes At the end of this module you will be able to: • Understand the benefits of social farming initiatives • Evaluate the link between social farming activities and the concept of multifunctionality of the farm • Understand the importance of adopting eco-friendly methods

4. 1.1 The Green activities • 1.1.1. The main areas of social farming • 1.1.2. The beneficiaries • 1.1.3. Benefits for users • 1.1.4. Multifunctionality in agriculture • 1.1.5. Care for nature • 1.1.6. Agricultural activities

5. 1.1.1 Main areas of SF Social farming includes a wide range of activities in different contexts. The common element is the use of nature to get social, educational and health benefits.

6. 1.1.1 Main areas of SF Work inclusion and social integration: this activity has the objective of integration into the labour market and develop professional training for disadvantaged people with low contractual power or disability (training program, recruitment for disables, prisoners, drug addicts, migrants); Rehabilitation and therapeutic acitivites:this activity as a therapeutic objective for people with temporary or permanent disability (physics, psychic, mental, social). Education: actions to bring young people, children with learning difficulties or disadvantaged conditions closer to environmental issues (didactic farms, summer centers). Personal support services: experiences for a wide range of people with special needs with socio-recreational purposes, (social agritourisms, urban gardens, kindergartens , elderly centers);

7. 1.1.2 The beneficiaries

8. 1.1.3 The benefits for users The main benefits are: - improvement in general well-being - sense of freedom and space - integration into society - positive effects on physical health, mental health and social well-being (Elings & Hassink, 2008)

9. 1.1.3 The benefits for users (Elings & Hassink, 2008)

10. 1.1.4 Multifunctionality in agriculture The development of effective SF projects is linked to the concept of: Multifunctionality in agriculture Agricultural production Services The farm carries out the main activities of agricultural production (breeding, horticulture, fruit growing) to which it adds further activities for the development of educational, tourism, recreational employment services. Educational Recreational Employment Tourist

11. 1.1.4 Multifunctionality in agriculture For an effective social farming path it is necessary that the farmer is: Open to innovation Flexible in the management of the production process and in the organization of agricultural activities. creative in the proposal of new projects Depending on the different situations, it may be necessary to adapt or modify agricultural productive activities to involve the users of social farming activities. The farm engaged in multiple activities can offer different types of experiences (tactile, olfactory, auditory, visual) and stimuli useful for an educational SF path.

12. 1.1.5 Care for nature Usually the cultivation methods used in social agriculture are eco-friendly. Social agriculture combines the care of disadvantaged people with the care and development of the rural landscape.

13. 1.1.5 Care for nature The choice of eco-friendly methods: - avoiding the use of toxic products, it prevent any dangerous situations for people with particular difficulties (for example disabled people). - allows the development of higher quality products for which the consumer is willing to pay a higher price.

14. 1.1.5 Care for nature: Eco-friendly methods • Organic Agriculture: uses natural fertilizers and pesticides, renounces the use of synthetic chemicals, enhancing biodiversity. • Biodynamic Agriculture: considers the farm as a real organism and pursues the balance between man and the environment. • Alternative Energies/ Waste reduction: use of alternative energy sources (solar panels, eolic plantes) and attention to the consumption (water consumption). • Short chain: direct relationship between producers and consumers, in single or associated form, without using intermediaries (direct sales in the farm, farmers' markets, collective stands proposed by cooperatives and consortiums)

15. 1.1.6 Agricultural activities The most suitable agricultural activities for social farming are those that require a high labor demand and allow the employment of people with low contractual conditions. High labor demand Employment of low contract people

16. 1.1.6 Agricultural activities Examples of agricultural activities typically used in social farming projects: Horticulture Viticulture Cultivation of small fruits Beekeeping Breeding: small farm animals Olive growing

17. Video • http://www.htinstitute.org/ht-video-clips/ • https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/Ornamental-Horticulture-Roundtable/Health-and-Horticulture-Conference-2016

18. Reference links • https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic/organic-farming/what-is-organic-farming_en

19. Bibliografy • Kinsella J. (2014), Social Farming Handbook: Guidelines for considering, planning, delivering and using social farming services in Ireland and Northern Ireland, School of Agriculture and Food Science,University College Dublin. • Comunello F., Berti E., (2013) "Fattoria sociale" Erickson. • Di Iacovo F., O’Connor D. (a cura di) (2009), Supporting Policies for Social Farming in Europe: Progressing Multifunctionality in Responsive Rural Areas, Arsia, Lcd, Firenze. • Di Iacovo F., Durastanti F., Galasso A., (2012), Agricoltura sociale e competitività multifunzionale. Rurale Sociale per la competitività multifunzionale dell’impresa agricola, Corso di formazione ASSAM Regione Marche • Zampetti A. - Sabatini Scalmati P., 2014, Agricoltura sociale e progettazione educativa. La costruzione di percorsi destrutturati in contesti agricoli multifunzionali, in Orientamenti Pedagogici vol 61, n.3, pp. 585-602 • Zampetti A. (2017), “Agricultura sociale. Seminare innovazione nei territori”, Kairos Cooperativa Sociale. http://www.kairoscoopsociale.it/agricultura-sociale/ • Elings, M. and J. Hassink, Green Care Farms, A Safe Community Between Illness or Addiction and the Wider Society. Journal of Therapeutic Communities, 2008, 29: 310‐323.

20. Glossary • Multifunctionality (of agriculture): Use of agricultural and human resources of the countryside to perform different functions (production, social, environmental) that generate a plurality of benefits for society. • Biodynamic agriculture: founded in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner, considers the company as a living organism where plant production is integrated with animal breeding. The agricultural actitivies are guided by astronomical and lunar cycles of the calendar. • Organic farming: all those forms of cultivation and breeding that enhance and preserve the biological production systems, without the use of synthetic chemicals. • Biodiversity: generally refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity typically measures variation at the genetic, the species, and the ecosystem level. The interspecific diversity refers to the number and types of different species, the intraspecific diversity, which includes the genetic variety within a single species. • Flexibility: the quality of being able to change or be changed easily according to the situation;ability to find alternatives to usual behaviors and solutions.