BEST Microgardens - Lutter contre la précarité alimentaire par la promotion du micro-jardinage écologique en Europe

Best Microgardens was developed to promote the micro-gardening model, i.e. gardening in small areas in the ground or above ground, and ecological micro-gardening practices, particularly among European populations in economically disadvantaged or even food insecure situations. The project aimed to respond to the need for food self-sufficiency and food education among disadvantaged groups, particularly in the ultra-peripheral regions where the project was partly based (French Guiana, Canary Islands). The project has also sought to meet the needs of social workers in their efforts to combat food insecurity. Finally, the project sought to meet the objectives of adapting to climate change by promoting ecological practices that save water and inputs.

To meet these needs, we have developed open, multidisciplinary training materials aimed primarily at several categories of target audience: - European populations living in poverty and food insecurity. Ecological micro-gardening helps people to feed themselves with healthy, seasonal produce, thereby helping to solve the food problems of the European populations most at risk of malnutrition. - To the holders of micro-economic activities centred on market gardening. BEST Microgardens covered economic concepts that would enable microentrepreneurs to build up their prices and strengthen the viability of their project. - those involved in the fight against poverty and food insecurity, by giving them the tools to promote and implement ecological micro-gardening among their target audiences and strengthening their mediation and communication skills, to tackle projects on a small community scale. - organisations promoting gardening, by providing them with resources enabling them to work with social action professionals and disadvantaged groups.

The project was based on a series of complementary activities to develop and test the targeted training content: - The organisation of local working groups bringing together players in agricultural training and social operators in 7 areas - The development of a blended learning model aimed at people with few or no opportunities - The development of training content covering the technical needs associated with running a garden (from planting to harvesting), communication skills, social mediation to help build community projects, economic needs and product promotion for those wishing to develop an income-generating micro-activity. - The filming of 19 original videos illustrating teaching sequences and facilitating the learning process. - The development of an open platform to access training content and additional resources - The integration of a trainer's manual and best practices illustrating social gardening across Europe - The training of 13 social workers and trainers during a week of transnational training in Bologna - testing the content with 50 beneficiaries, including 33 people in precarious situations or in need of social integration - The organisation of 5 final dissemination events - Communication and dissemination

1. a B-Learning training model, the methodological framework on which training content is based 2. An ecological micro-gardening training curriculum aimed at social workers, agricultural or gardening trainers, and individuals wishing to undertake autonomous training to practise micro-gardening. The training is organised around 3 modules and 28 teaching sequences which successively address the technical issues linked to the practice of micro-gardening, the sale of produce, social mediation and communication to encourage the emergence of collective projects, local food and short circuits, the processing and conservation of produce, hygiene rules and diets. 3. A video library of 19 videos developed for the project from original content, covering the main themes of the teaching sequences. These videos are integrated into the training content but can also be viewed separately. 4. A platform https://www.bestmicrogardens.eu/ accessible in 6 languages (Fr, Eng, It, Sp, Gr, Sw.). This platform allows on-line and autonomous learning but can also be used as a support for trainers. To date, the project has reached more than 2,500 people and organisations in Europe, and 250 users of the training platform have been involved in the activities.