Social farming (SF) is a way of inclusion within a green environment. Social farmers are farmers that open their farms for vulnerable people. Depending on the client group (CG) social farms can offer work places where people can find a useful day-activity, work rehabilitation and training or place to be in a pleasant green environment. Therefore “Social Farming is an innovative approach that brings together two concepts: multipurpose farming and social services/health care at local level. It makes a contribution in the ambit of agricultural production to the well-being and the social integration of people with particular needs.” (EESC 2012)The way SF is implemented depends mainly on the CG. For instance, older people with dementia will generally be coming to the farm to have a pleasant day activity and the goals may include an improved sense of well-being and quality of life. Meanwhile young people with behavioral problems are possibly looking for possibilities to learn new skills and for experience of being in a pro-social and nurturing environment. People with mental health difficulties or intellectual disabilities might either look for possibilities of doing a meaningful job or alternative forms of therapy available within the farm environment. A refugee might look for work experience and a paid job that he/she is able to do, even if there is a language barrier.Consequently, best practice in including and supporting people in SF varies strongly depending on the CG. SF also brings together disciplines and professions that normally have little in common: agriculture, horticulture, forestry on one side, social work and pedagogy on the other side. This project considers higher education (HE) as a tool for improving SF and thereby empowering rural areas and including people with special needs all over Europe. While a growing number of the HE Institutions throughout Europe have discovered SF as a concept and a valuable initiative, no teaching material about CG specific knowledge in SF is currently available. This project wants to fill this gap and aims to further develop and deepen HE about SF by focusing on CGs, their needs and the way of knowledge transfer to future social farmers.What are the needs of CGs like the elderly, refugees, youth with special needs, people suffering from addiction and other mental health issues, offenders or a person with an intellectual disability? How can a farm and farming activities be helpful in meeting various needs? What do farmers, social workers/pedagogues, case managers and other stakeholders need to pay attention to? How can farmers use the farm environment in the optimal way to stimulate the development of CGs?To answer these questions and to implement them into teaching material for HE, is the core mission of this project. To realize this task, interviews with representatives of all CGs will be conducted. From within the countries involved, key services will be asked to contribute with their knowledge and experience, including: services who work with people with intellectual disabilities or with mental health difficulties; youth services; associations of senior citizens or services working with older people; other relevant social service providers; and experienced social farmers. In addition to this, members of the consortium will undertake participatory observation at social farms. Therefore, the development of teaching material will be based on practical experience from working on the farm together with the farmer and people with special needs.The teaching material will give an overview on the most important CGs in SF and describe how SF can support each group in a more nuanced and targeted way than has been available heretofore. Methods of social work and social pedagogy will be further developed to methods usable in farming. Vice versa farming activities will be transferred to client appropriate activities. In addition, this project wants to go one step further by “translating” this academic material into a simpler handbook and online tool for farmers who would like to make their farm a place of inclusion or for social workers who are looking for ways of using farming as a tool of social work or pedagogy. These materials will not use academic language, but will instead use everyday language and provide short and easy to use guides which can act as an ongoing and accessible resource for practitioners - farmers and social workers. A mixed partnership is the recipe for connecting higher education with consultation of practitioners. In this project, HE institutions (coming either from the field of agriculture or social work) and SF associations (that take a stand for SF as well as the demands of farmers and people with special needs) have teamed up:Thüringer Ökoherz e.V., coordinator (DE) University of Applied Science Neubrandenburg (DE)University of South Bohemia (CZ)Jabok Academy (CZ)Social Farming Ireland (IE)Dutch Federation of Care Farmers (NL)

Social Farming (SF) is a way of using an agricultural enterprise as a setting for therapy, integration, rehabilitation or occupation of people with special needs. For the farmer it represents an opportunity to diversify income and labour sources and to take social responsibility.SF affects two professions the most: Farmers and Social workers. In recent years an increasing number of Farmers and Social Workers are becoming interested in SF as a new branch of a Farming or Social Enterprise. However, neither agricultural nor socio-educational university courses are able to respond sufficiently to this trend. In most European countries, only a few lighthouse projects offer further education at University level. SF is interdisciplinary -- agricultural knowledge, management skills, as well as socio-educational competences are necessary. Thus, SF is based on different professions which have had very little contact so far.There is a high demand for scientific research as well as educational innovations and teaching material supporting SF. Subjects such as Agriculture, Social Work, Psychology or Forestry can benefit from offering knowledge and skills needed for running a Social Farm, as more and more of their members will encounter it in the future. Educational Institutions already offering SF courses are highly interested in facilitating the exchange of students and teaching staff. They also look to enhance their range of studies. This project wants to fill these gaps. It aims at empowering rural areas across Europe by increasing the quantity, and above all, the quality of Social Farms. This outcome will be realised by giving Universities the tools to teach the necessary SF skills. By defining Quality Standards in teaching SF, followed by developing a Curriculum on SF in Higher Education, and especially by offering teaching material tailored to the needs of various target groups, education about SF will be greatly improved. Coordinated by Thüringer Ökoherz e.V., a German Organic Farmers and Environmental Association, already running many SF projects, six European Universities, all experienced in research and teaching about SF, will cooperate to create the highest quality educational programme in SF:• Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Germany• Academy of Social Pedagogy and Theology, Czechia• University of South Bohemia, Czechia• Szent István University, Hungary• University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy, Austria• Norwegian University College of Agriculture and rural Development The Universities are experienced with educating many different target groups, including the range of those with interest in SF, such as elementary education students, professionals who upgrade their education, future farming consultants, and students coming from different disciplines e.g. social work or agronomics. The partner organisations also possess extensive knowledge about curricula development. Furthermore, all partners are engaged in networks of professionals working in SF (e.g. farmers, gardeners, psychologists or pedagogues), who will be recruited and involved in the project by the Consortium. Higher Education for SF will be advanced by the following intellectual outputs:• Development of Quality Standards for teaching SF• Definition of a Higher Education curriculum• Drafting an Abstract Book describing the content of all units necessary for teaching SF• Elaboration of full Chapters of the most important topics that need to be taught about SFThe development of the Intellectual Outputs will be realized by expert interviews and focus group discussions. The project will be accompanied by a regular exchange between partners, online and in regular transnational project meetings. Dissemination will happen during multiplier events, where the project and its results are shared with a wider audience. Other public relation measures will take place. An internal evaluation will also be part of the Project. In the second part of the Project a Pilot Course will be performed to test the developed materials and to further improve them.In the end this strategic partnership will contribute to Higher Education about SF which is high in quality, transferable, can be mutually recognised between European universities and will ease the international mobility of students wishing to learn about SF .The Outcome of the project will be well trained students of Agriculture, Social work and other fields related to SF. Eventually this will ensure a high quality of SF in Europe for the benefit of farmers, and the clients of SF. By facilitating research and the establishment of Quality Standards in SF, this project will also have an impact on increasing the number of Social Farms in Europe. Therefore, it will make an important contribution to empowering rural areas in Europe and at the same time fostering the inclusion of people with special needs or at risk of social exclusion.