Our Erasmus+ project on Social Permaculture – Social PEAS – continues to grow. The second year of the project has seen the finalisation of the training material and the start of the piloting of training sessions with local social organisations in 5 partner countries. Friends of the Earth Malta has been piloting the training programme with professionals from Agenzija Sapport and Agenzija Sedqa, who are trained in topics related to permaculture, the relation with social and community work, and how to set up green and gardening spaces to use in therapy with service users in their centres.

The second transnational partner meeting of the project took place in Palermo, Sicily, where the project partners (from Cyprus, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Italy and Malta) met to discuss the project progress and the next steps – in which the training material will be made available on an online training platform and will be certified by an independent agency.

After intense meetings, there was also time for the project partners to experience some nature therapy of their own, with a visit to the beautiful botanical gardens in Palermo, including some impressive ficus trees.

What is Social Peas project about? During last year, we were hosting permaculture trainings for professionals who work with vulnerable adults. In their professional life, they help people suffering from mental health issues, people with physical and intellectual disabilities, and former drug or alcohol users. Our participants already started growing some plants from seeds and seedlings in their working centres. These spaces will be used with service users as a tool for social inclusion and integration within the community.

Read more about the Social PEAS project here:  https://foemalta.org/projects/socialpeas/

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