In the Strategic Partnership „Sustainable food for kindergartens“ 8 partners from 7 countries developed an e-learning course and interactive online portal, offering learning materials and Open Educational Resources (OERs) on sustainable food in kindergartens for pedagogues, kindergarten staffs, caterers and kitchen staff.The vocational profile of and requirements for pedagogues and staffs employed in kindergartens, children crèches and schools in Germany and other countries in Europe have changed radically in the past 10-15 years. In nearly all European countries the number of hours a child stays in kindergarten is increasing. Pedagogues and kindergarten staff have to take over responsibility for a lot of new tasks among others the care for food and full board service with 2-3 meals a day. The project accomplished to enhance and complete the professional profile of kindergarten pedagogues and staffs by learning offers on sustainability of meals and food.New challenges for kindergarten staffs and manager rise for the integration of refugee children and families. The kindergarten is the place where families with young children meet and where there is a way to integrate them into the European culture through direct interaction and knowledge exchange. But to integrate families as well as children from other countries kindergarten staff has to have basic knowledge about the eating habits, the religious background and rituals. Parts of the project’s results contributed especially to these needs.Target groups were pedagogues, cooking personnel, kitchen staff and chefs in kindergartens, caterers of kindergartens, who need a specific education in sustainability and its aspects in nutrition and food system that they can transfer this knowledge to children and their parents. Another important target group were headmasters and personnel manager of kindergartens, decision makers in public administration, universities and higher schools educating (future) teachers, students and parents.The partnerships consisted of 8 partners from 7 countries - Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. The partners are institutions with experiences and competences in different areas of sustainability and education, this partnership covers a wide area within the European Union.The first results of the project are “Guidelines and a Didactic Concept for training on Sustainable food for kindergartens“ (O1). The guidelines support pedagogues and kindergarten staffs to apply the teaching materials, the e-learning course and other learning tools and OER of the portal. They are provided as PDF for download and print in all partner languages and English. The second result comprises the content for training course “Sustainable food in kindergartens” (O2) for 5 thematic modules with learning offers for pedagogues, kindergarten staffs and manager, kitchen staff and caterer. It is provided as PDF for download and print in all partner languages and English. The third result is the Online Portal „Sustainable food for kindergartens“ (IO3), available in all partner languages. It comprises a broad spectrum of interactive educational resources - the e-learning course, additional training materials, as well as interactive tools like videos, audios, photo galleries, blogs, chats, forums, assessments, working groups etc. The fourth result is the English pilot e-learning course „Sustainable food for kindergartens“ (O4). With 5 thematic modules it provides learning offers for pedagogues, kindergarten staffs and manager, kitchen staff and caterer. The course is based on learning materials and course content developed before. The course is provided at the online portal as OER and based on the Learning Management System EasyAdmin, which has been developed especially for this project.The fifth results are seven national versions of the e-learning course „Sustainable food for kindergartens“ (IO5) in all seven partner languages, shaped according to their particular national conditions, requirements and needs. It consists of 5 modules. Based on a testing with important national target groups and stakeholders and regarding evaluations revised final versions are published on national online platforms in each partner country. The sixth results comprises the Evaluation Report about the testing of the functionality of the e-learning course and online portal “Sustainable food in kindergartens” in practical application in all partner countries; and the evaluation of the results of the test. Furthermore the report includes the overall evaluation of the project, its results, transfer and dissemination, and the project management.Further results are dissemination workshops and multiplier events carried out for pedagogues, cooking personnel, kitchen staff and chefs in kindergartens, caterers of kindergartens and educational institutions and an international network established within the project.

In the Strategic Partnership “Learning place Bio-Farm” 8 partners from 7 countries developed an e-learning course and interactive online portal, offering learning materials and Open Educational Resources (OERs) for training of teachers, farmers, staff of coordinating agencies, other pedagogues and NGO staffs as “Bio-Farm Guides”. Educational farm visits provide an alternative and innovative space that enables “informal and formal learning” to take place alongside the more conventional school learning environment. Bio-Farms are ideal for teaching. Groups of children and young people can spend the day on farm in practical way. Visits on the farm are interactive workshops. Learning first-hand on a farm about the realities and challenges of food production can be an important formative experience. Farm visits are ideal practical complement to the knowledge acquired in the schools (biology, geography, economics, ecology and environmental protection, sustainability). Teachers and other pedagogues can find in farm life various links to school curricula and experience areas, to open a practical and non-cognitive access to educational subjects and issues. Attending a farm visit brings particular benefits for teachers, who educate pupils with difficulties in mainstream learning systems. Classes including children and youth with special needs (e.g. refugees, children with migrant background, and children with developmental disorders, learning disabilities or social problems) get intensive and new experience for the group apart from conventional patterns of learning and competing in classrooms. Visits on organic farms can support teachers in integrating those children and young people.A special focus in the project was laid on refugee children and families. Europe has to face the challenge to integrate a lot of refugees in the society. The “Learning place Bio-Farm” has a big potential to offer this group of people new perspectives outside their living in refugee camps. Visiting the countryside offers an inside into the European culture and nutrition behaviour. Besides this the organic farming sector is an economically growing branch that needs motivated young people to work in. Job perspectives (as an organic farmer, bakers, butchers, or shop keepers) can be explained during the farm visits not only for young European pupils but as well for refugees.Target groups were farmers, coordinating agencies, pedagogues, teachers and educational institutions, other trainers and stakeholders, NGO staffs, representatives of public administration, teachers, other educators and farm guides. The partnerships consisted of 8 partners from 7 countries – Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom. The partners are institutions with experiences and competences in different areas of farm education.The first result of the project is “Guidelines and a Didactic Concept for training at the Learning Place Bio-Farm” (O1). It contains materials for the preparation and implementation of visits at the “Learning Place Bio-Farm” and instructions for the use of the e-learning course and online portal. It is provided as PDF for download and print in all partner languages and English. The second result is the English pilot e-learning course “Learning place Bio-Farm” (O2). With 6 thematic modules it trains teachers, farmers, farm education officers and coordinators how to prepare and structure farm visits and workshops. The course is based on learning materials and course content developed before and available as PDF for printing. The course is provided at the online portal as OER and based on the Learning Management System EasyAdmin, which has been developed especially for this project.The third results are seven national versions of the e-learning course for training on “Learning Place Bio-Farm” (IO3) in all six partner languages, shaped according to their particular national conditions, requirements and needs. It consists of 6 modules. The course is not only translated, but adapted to the specific backgrounds, needs and requirements in of the partner countries. Based on a testing with important national target groups and stakeholders and regarding evaluations the revised final versions are published on national online platforms in each partner country. The fourth result is the Online Portal “Learning Place Bio-Farm” (IO4), available in all partner languages. It comprises a broad spectrum of interactive educational resources - the e-learning course, additional training materials, as well as case studies and examples of educational activities that can be accessed to demonstrate good practice in outdoor learning. Further results are dissemination workshops and multiplier events carried out for farmers, coordinating agencies, pedagogues, teachers and educational institutions and an international network established within the project.

Public procurement represents a decisive purchaser of food in Europe. Public authorities and local communities responsible for canteens and cafeterias in hospitals, schools etc. have into their hands a powerful opportunity to orientate food systems towards more sustainability, from the producer to the consumer. Throughout Europe, innovative strategies are emerging at local and national scales in favour of a more sustainable public food procurement. A shift from “low cost” procurement schemes to environmentally and socially performant approaches is necessary, and for that shift to happen, numerous experiences have highlighted that support and training for staff members and representatives in local authorities is crucial. Indeed, it’s a challenge for local players to develop the capacities to organize a “re-connexion” with food supply chains (especially local agriculture), to acquire new management methods of costs in food facilities and to design new procedures and tenders, among others. The aim of the project “Empowering Public Food Procurement” was to contribute to the empowerment of local players in the catering sector, by:•putting together practical knowledge of trainers on how to build sustainable food procurement at local scale in different European countries;•pooling concrete examples of good practices and innovative approaches in Europe, that can be mobilized in training activities for local actors;•proposing concrete recommendations for representatives / chefs / managers of municipalities’ catering, and for trainers who support them;•laying the foundation of European common leading principles to perform more sustainable food procurement in the catering sector. The project brought together eight organizations in seven countries: France, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, Turkey and the Netherlands. The partner organizations all have competence in different areas of vocational education and training. They combine a broad spectrum of knowledge and practical know-how: consultancy and training skills for chefs, managers and municipalities’ representatives, expertise on sustainable food supply chains, experiences on designing transnational learning tools. The geographical scope of the partners permitted to juxtapose contrasted national situations towards public procurement and food supply chains, for rich and valuable exchanges of practices. The partners have shared summaries on the situation of training activities and initiatives supporting sustainability in food procurement, and have investigated case studies providing good practice examples in local communities in each project country. Two collective training sessions allowed the group to share their own field-based experiences and to gather country information and examples, enabling to sketch a European view of sustainability in food procurement support and training initiatives. Thanks to the partnership, the lessons learnt from the project have been and will be widely disseminated to a diversity of target groups: chefs, managers and responsible representatives at local level; national and European professional and institutional networks, in the sustainable food sector, the catering sector, national and European associations / initiatives run by local authorities. In a nutshell, the project has led to enhance trainers’ skills and expertise to support local communities, to provide orientations and practical recommendations for actors on-the-ground in the catering and agrofood sectors, and to raise awareness among decision makers for a switch to a more environmentally and socially performant food procurement in Europe.

"The Partnership “Preparing for the Future” developed ethical principles for organic business and employee contexts to a comprehensive European “Code of Good Organic Retailing Practice” for the trade sector. This Code described eight criteria that determine Good Organic Retailing practices: Social Aspects, Involvement in the Organic Sector, Product Quality, Sustainability in the Shop, Sustainable Relationships, Transparency, Open Communication, and Quality Management.In order to integrate the Code’s principles in the formal training of managers and personnel in the organic retail sector, but also for a transfer and promotion to the non-organic retail sector, the e-learning course and platform “Ecoretail” has been developed. Target groups of the Code concept and the e-learning training and platform were manager and staffs in organic shops and supermarket chains, institutions of adult education, trainers and teachers, representatives and stakeholders in organic retail sector, and decision-makers in public administration. The partnership consisted of nine partners from seven countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Turkey. It included organic retail associations, educational institutes and universities, marketing and consulting organizations.The first result of the project presented the ""heart"" of the identified themes for a “Code of Good Organic Retail Practice”, the criteria for the eight principles of the Code in business and staff contexts, provided in all partner languages and English. The second result is based on this concept: a Curriculum with Learning Outcomes for training on the ""Code"". The third result was a print version (PDF) of learning materials and course content for training of manager and staff in organic retail on the ""Code of Good Organic Retailing Practice"" in English language. The fourth result was the English pilot e-learning course “Ecoretail” for training on the ""Code of Good Organic Retailing Practice“.The fifth result consisting of seven national versions of the e-learning course “Ecoretail” in all partner countries and languages. “Preparing for the future” provides with this results an innovative certification standard and a regarding learning offer for the integration of ethical and sustainable principles in the daily practice of organic and conventional retail."