Horganic newsletter 1 (English version)

N1_MAY | 2013

Welcome to HORGANIC newsletter!

Learning is not something addressed only to children or youngsters at a certain age. Learning is a lifelong process that enriches us and allows us growing and being better citizens. It is also an excellent empowerment tool, especially for those at risk of social exclusion, as for example people with mental problems. It is proven that activities related to plants and nature have revealed especially beneficial for people with mental disabilities and we want to take advantage of this fact. HORGANIC aims to be a gardening training course for the above mentioned target group: adults with mental illness. The training course will help people to develop cognitive skills, increase their self-esteem, improve their memory and communication skills and, overall, promote a healthy life in harmony with nature.

This newsletter aims to reach the HORGANIC dissemination objectives: informing about the project and spreading its results, promoting training for adults, reducing stigma attached to mental illness and increasing visibility of the Grundtvig Programme.

In this first issue: -

Read a presentation about HORGANIC project: objectives, activities, main milestones.

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Know more about the HORGANIC partners: organisations’ profile, working areas.

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Find out about where are we now: what has been developed, next steps.

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Know about the HORGANIC website.

HORGANIC newsletter will be available every four months, updating you about the HORGANIC project progress and related news that we hope to be interesting and useful.

Have a great read!

This project has been funded with support of the Lifelong Learning Programme, Grundtvig sub-programme, from the European Commission.

WHAT IS HORGANIC PROJECT? HORGANIC is a gardening training course specifically thought for adults suffering from mental illness that will be complemented by an innovative sociodrama approach. Some exercises and role playing will help them to develop or improve some social skills that a conventional course does not used to take into consideration.

The essential aim of the project is to establish an innovative model of gardening and horticulture training by developing an experiential methodology specifically designed for the target group of mentally ill adults in order to facilitate and improve their learning. Lifelong learning opportunities are something still difficult to find, even more if we talk about this concrete target group.

In order to design and put into practice the gardening course, four teaching material will be needed: •

A manual for the teachers, including complete information about each of the gardening and horticulture didactic lessons, as well as detailed information about the experiential methodology for development of social skills, and the exercises and role playing supporting the new knowledge acquired.

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A textbook for the learners, including all the gardening sessions in order to fix knowledge and better follow the teaching lessons.

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A teaching DVD including examples of the training that will help other organizations to repeat this experience in their centres. HORGANIC aims to be a seed that will grow in a lot of different places, creating a European green community.

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This website aims also to be a supporting tool for trainers, learners and organizations involved in adult training.

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WHO IS BEHIND HORGANIC?

Ozara

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INTRAS is a Spanish non-profit organisation dedicated to high quality research and intervention in the mental health field. Its main target group consists of people suffering from mental 1 disorders, whereby the organisation also performs activities and offers services to the disabled, the elderly and people at risk of social exclusion in general. Over 80 people (psychiatrists, psychologists and professionals in social and educational fields) are working in the eight centres of INTRAS carrying out research, training and clinical practice. Years of professional work have brought INTRAS solid experience and excellent referential background both in the field of European projects and in development of new Ozara technologies, programmes and applications for cognitive rehabilitation, training and mental health Las pruebas piloto del proyecto SUVOT están a punto de terminar w w w. o z a r a . o r g treatment. Besides being inycharge of thehasta HORGANIC project coordination, INTRAS will perform los resultados el momento no podrían ser mejores. pilot adult training, providingLos the necessary staffdesarrollando to ensure excellence in teaching ejercicios y las infrastructure clases de cocinaand se están sin problemas y los participantes están cada día más motivados, ya tools development. It will also be responsible for dissemination activities and will act as an editing están adquiriendoinunpublishing montón de nuevas intermediary structure due toque their experience books,competencias. clinical and video documents.

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OZARA d.o.o. is one of the companies with employment of persons cocina televisivo questatus hemos for creado y que te invitamos a visitar with disabilities in Slovenia. Its mission is training, employment and social of ypersons y también algunas historias exitosasinclusion en Eslovenia Alemaniawith disabilities. In sobre cómoare: preparar una and gran employment comida y sobreofel the trabajo en group within the this sense the goals of the company training target equipo. Finalmente podrás leer un divertido artículo que habla Te a t r G r o d z kframework i of supported and sheltered employment, adjusting working places for equal opportunities, de la opinión de los participantes del curso SUVOT sobre algunas w w w . t e a t r g rproviding o d z k i . p l expert help, as well as accompanying them at work, providing interesting programmes as de las recetas que han preparado en estos últimos meses. foundation for employing disabled persons, education and training of disabled persons and experts Esperamos que disfrutes de las siguientes páginas, no dudes working with them. The mission is accomplished within the framework of the following production en compartir tu opinión con nosotros en nuestra página de and service activities: pottery activity, joiner’s workshop, sewing activity, green area maintenance, Facebook cleaning services, maintenance work, training programmes, vocational rehabilitation services, social http://www.facebook.com/pages/Suvotinclusion programme, and other for employment of persons with disability interesting programmes.

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Suvot TEAM

CJD is a large, nationwide vocational institution, running about 150 centres in different locations, employing 8000 staff members and annually training around 150.000 young people and adults, who are in great majority also suffering from various disabilities. Two of the working fields in which the 1

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participants can be trained are landscape gardening and cultivation of ornamental plants. CJD acts as an intermediary structure between vocational education, research, rehabilitation and labour market, closely working with the National agency of labour with local and regional departments, universities and high schools in the province and psychologists, hospitals and other important stakeholders in the public health system. Being one of the strongest and most recognized vocational institutions in Germany, CJD will ensure that the teaching tools developed and the pilot training carried out will respond to the highest standards of academic excellence in contemporary adults training.

Mental Health Centre “Prof. N. Shipkovenski� is a health care service for the district Sofia, Bulgaria, under authorization of medical activity, issued by the Minister of Health by carrying out diagnostic, treatment and social rehabilitation activities in the field of mental disorders and mental health. Its mission is carrying out activities to improve the quality of life of persons with acute and chronic mental illness, restoring health, control and stabilization of the violations, which cannot be removed, remove or alleviate the experience of suffering and psychological discomfort. The vision of the health care service is focused on providing unconditional medical care associated with quality of performance and safety of patients and staff, completing a team of well trained and prepared the next generation of skilled professionals, introducing new medical techniques and innovations. This valuable experience is the key factor to develop the innovative experiential methodology based on sociodrama techniques that makes HORGANIC a unique gardening course.

WHERE ARE WE NOW? WHERE DO WE COME IN? We held our kick-off meeting last October 2012 in Valladolid, Spain. It was the starting of the planned activities for the next three years. We worked together in establishing high quality criteria through the creation of a Quality Board that will assure high standards during all the project duration.

Now we are working on the development of the pedagogical manual about gardening and horticulture, designing the outline of the book taking into consideration the special needs of our target group.

HORGANIC website is already available; there you will find updated information about this initiative, photos, comments from our participants, etc. We invite you to visit it in http://horganic.intras.es.

This project has been funded with support of the Lifelong Learning Programme, Grundtvig subprogramme, from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Contact: Laura Mart铆nez, Fundaci贸n INTRAS Proyectos2@intras.es / 983399633 You will find updated information about HORGANIC project in http://horganic.intras.es Horganic