EASPD

Invitation Final Conference 26 September 2008

Education for the start of and work

in a social firm/enterprise on a farm and in the countryside

The aim of the project Happy Farm is to increase the number of people with disabilities, who participate in the labour market. The project will concentrate on people with disabilities, elderly, youth without completed education and other

disadvantaged groups who are facing all kinds of obstacles when entering the labour market, and will facilitate an access to the labour market for the groups who are on the verge of social exclusion.

The Leonardo project aims to provide the base/tools for developing a social enterprise in the countryside with recreational and educational services, beneficial for the whole society, and with organic food production.

Target Group?

• severely disadvantaged groups in the country
• people with disabilities
• people with decreased working abilities
• the unemployed elderly
• the unemployed youth without formal education
• project group members and promoters/initiators of social economy in partner countries
• indirectly, wider community and local area

What will we achieve?

• Find new forms of employment for persons disadvantaged in the open labour market
• Create three strategic plans for a social enterprise on a farm
• Prepare a new training programme for work in the social enterprise on the farm, adapted to the target groups
• Prepare an overview of national vocational qualification systems
• Create awareness on how to revive the countryside
• Promote organic farming and healthy life options

The Aim of the project is to?

• To prevent social exclusion and to increase job opportunities for the unemployed.
• To raise the quality of life the target groups disadvantaged in the labour market.
• To ensure new jobs for the unemployed people disadvantaged in the labour market.
• To improve the competitiveness of the disadvantaged target groups on the job market.
• To develop strategic plans for social enterprises on the farm and thus to contribute to the revival of the countryside. The plan will be based partly on organic farming, which will be a contribution in raising the public’s ecological awareness.
• The farms will provide quality services for the wider community and promote healthy and quality leisure activities – tourist, recreational and educational services
• To strengthen the European dimension and to exchange knowledge and experience between the partner countries.
• To inform the wider public about the project’s results and to spread the examples of good practice.

Results 

• Educate and train project group members and potential management staff in order to set up and run a social firm on a farm that would offer tourist, recreation and education activities and ecologically produced food. The expert staff will be able to provide farm services, which will raise the quality of life to the whole society.
• To prepare a quality training programme for vocational qualification until the lower level of complexity. It will be made in a way that allows certification.
• Do and publish the analysis of the existing certified vocational systems for people with reduced abilities in the partner countries.
• To check if the transfer of the existing training programmes is possible between the partner countries.
• To check if the certification of the new training programme is possible in partner countries.
• Create 3 strategic plans for social enterprise on a farm, adapted to different target groups. The plans will provide a basis for the start and work of the social firm.
• To carry out parts of the strategic plan for social enterprise on a farm (testing).
• To check the economic feasibility of the strategic plans for social enterprise.
• To carry out parts of training programme topics with the experimental groups.

• Results will be published on the project's webpage, on CDs and in a handbook 

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