FOOD-4-THOUGHT: CULTIVATING THE PATHWAYS TO GREENER AND FOOD SECURED CITIES BY ENGAGING YOUTH IN URBAN AGRICULTURE

<< Background >>The FOOD-4-THOUGHT idea came to life as a result of the actual crisis which we are currently facing, in terms of environment and climate change, more specifically related to food insecurity. Our project wanted to provide young people with more tools, skills and most importantly, knowledge on urban agriculture (UA) and how effective it can be in combating climate crises, food insecurity (exacerbated by the Russian invasion in Ukraine) and improve sustainability.Our initiative focused on the following needs:a) Building more resilient food systemsb) Reducing food waste c) Increasing youth participation in agricultured) Enhancing urban resilience and food self-sufficiencye) Promoting urban agriculture to help young people overcome economic and mental health challenges worsened by the pandemic and ongoing food crisesf) Addressing climate change anxiety, prevalent among youth globally by engaging them in agricultural activities that positively impact mental health.g) Equipping youth workers with updated skills, knowledge, and methodologies related to urban agriculture and food security, enabling them to better support young people in addressing modern social challenges. << Objectives >>The primary goal of the project was to introduce young people (YP) to UA and motivate them to take an active role in creating and maintaining vegetable gardens. UA served as a tool to foster sustainable, resilient, food-secure, and inclusive urban communities.More specifically, the project intended to:Inspire YP to adopt sustainable habits and ways of livingPromote UA and agricultural literacy as a means to improve food security and environmental protectionProvide support for urban communitiesMake agriculture more appealing to urban youthEmpower YP to become advocates for organic food productionBuild collaboration among civil society organisations and a variety of stakeholdersEquip youth workers (YW) with modern agricultural and environmental skills Encourage the intergenerational sharing of agricultural knowledge Challenge and overturn negative stereotypes about farming as a professionBring farmers and academics together to jointly involve more youth in agricultural initiativesSupport YP in cultivating initiative and responsibilityDevelop a network of YP, YW, and professionals who understand food securityPromote YP’s mental health and resilience through their involvement in UA practicesIntroduce YP to local food<< Implementation >>During the project, the consortium formed of 6 partners from 6 European countries, worked on implementing the following activities:1. did research by creating an evaluation survey + a map with 60 best practices in UA from each country;2. created a comparative report in the form of infographics with the results;3. managed an expert advisory board with agriculture experts from each country;4. created and translated a training pack with 6 modules (learning nuggets) including activities, PPTs, non-formal exercises etc which focused on UA for young people;5. launched a project website and an interactive platform with multiple interactive tools for the people;6. collaborated with agriculture experts to create 18 short video tutorials on how to grow different vegetables and herbs;7. developed a training programme with activities in each partner country to engage local young people into UA workshops, presentations, study visits and similar engaging events;8. promoted UA and our project through several dissemination and promotion materials and channels (social media, flyers, newsletters, conferences, local events);9. evaluated the progress of our project by gathering people's answers in valuable evaluation forms.<< Results >>The concrete outputs of our project are: 1. A 5 pages INFOGRAPHIC with results from our research on UA;2. A multimedia TRAINING PACK for YP;3. A MULTIPURPOSE PORTAL that operates as an Open Learning Environment offering the following functions: eLEARNING for introducing YP to vegetable production, e-MAPPING, for promoting best practices at the EU level, e-SKILLS ASSESSMENT where YP are able to assess their knowledge and skills, and e-COMMUNITY, online space where all participants can exchange opinions, questions etc.4. 18 “HOW TO GROW” VIDEO TUTORIALS that are posted on the project’s YouTube account;5. FOOD-4-THOUGHT TRAINING PROGRAMME which included FARMERS IN THE CITY workshops for encouraging YP to get involved in local agricultural activities, where YP visited rural farms, were encouraged to develop their own vegetables in their home and learned how to plant different plants6. A TRAINING FOR TRAINERS were youth workers from the 6 countries shared knowledge, skills and activity ideas with their peers7. A Blended Mobility Activity, where YP in transnational groups had the opportunity to exchange experiences and learn more about the topic.