Social Permaculture: Empowering an Active Society

Environmental and social challenges are interconnected, requiring an intersectional lens to address them. Social PEAS project emerged from the need to combat social exclusion and environmental iss...

The project aimed to achieve the improvement of wellbeing and social inclusion for vulnerable adults through contact with nature, using non-formal education in pilot projects (social permaculture gardens). This project aimed to bridge the knowledge gap to create permaculture training for people working with vulnerable adults (adult educators), as well as for vulnerable adults to increase their knowledge and competencies in using social permaculture and nature therapy for improvement of well-being and social resilience while taking care of the environment. The project aimed to achieve an increase of awareness in adult educators on the interconnectedness of environmental and social issues, and develop key competencies following the principles of permaculture. The objectives of the project were to increase the knowledge and expertise of these educators in social permaculture, to create permaculture gardens for marginalised adults to build their wellbeing and resilient communities. The development of self-paced, open, online tools and educational resources (manual and programme guide) achieved the implementation of gardens and other related work programs, including ongoing professional development and certification opportunities.