Our project ‘Perma-Youth’ was born out of a necessity of the five partner organizations to share knowledge and successful approaches related to environmental issues and permaculture education.

The primary objective is to equip youth workers with the necessary knowledge and skills to enhance their work in the realm of permaculture education so as to be able to guide and support young people in the process of gaining awareness on environmental issues. This, in turn, will boost green skills in young people and encourage them to be active participants in bringing about positive change within their communities.

The project therefore aims to increase the quality, innovation, and recognition of youth work, by introducing new learning methods, tools, and approaches, as well as by incorporating digital youth work.

‘Perma-Youth’ strives to develop an innovative methodological approach for youth workers, animators, and young individuals interested in the topic through the development of a Training Curricula and the creation of an e-learning platform. The initiative aims to integrate green practices and digital elements, thereby creating a unique learning experience.

The idea was conceived by the partner organizations after recognizing the advantages of upgrading their skills to address the areas they lacked or strengthen them through the collaborative and informative knowledge exchange facilitated by this partnership, given their experience with environmental projects.

The partnership is composed of five NGOs involved in promoting sustainable development among young people through education. More specifically, each of the 5 partner organisations has expertise that can help to better orient community-led projects, including entrepreneurship and permaculture, community involvement and living, and professional development.

The project indeed answers the shared and converging interests of both organizations and young people to change processes in response to increasingly interconnected global challenges.

The objectives of the project are:

• To gain and exchange knowledge and expertise on permaculture education among partner organizations
• To equip youth workers with the knowledge and necessary skills to guide and support young people in gaining awareness of environmental issues and permaculture education
• To improve the quality, innovation, and recognition of youth work by introducing new learning methods, tools, approaches, and incorporating digital aspects
• To co-design a training course focused on permaculture education incorporating: new, innovative approaches and tools in youth work; entrepreneurship competencies related to rural areas, such as new professional; managing of common goods from a permaculture perspective (Training Curriculum)
• To develop an innovative methodological approach for youth workers, animators, and young individuals interested in permaculture education (E-course)
• To promote green skills and civic competences in young people and encourage their active participation in creating positive change within their communities.

1. Sharing of tools and best practices: creation of the Permaculture Framework – Guideline for focus Group. Exploration of the unique attributes of permaculture within various national contexts
2. Local Focus Group with youngsters. Examine the requirements of young individuals concerning their interests in learning sustainability and permaculture techniques, their thoughts on innovative approaches in collaborating with youth workers, and the green skills they consider necessary to acquire
3. TC Co-Design: The development of the training program will draw upon the results of the Permaculture Framework. The program will prioritize: the collection of best practices, addressing the specific needs of the organizations. The information obtained from the Focus Groups and the knowledge gained from the Permaculture Framework will be utilized
4. Training Course Implementation for Consortium Youth Workers (7 days). During the TC implementation 1 facilitator per partner will present the thematic unit developed previously to the others, in a way to implement all the sessions all at once and test the methodologies implemented, receiving feedback and adjusting accordingly. The training in Palermo will consist of a practical workshop in ‘Terra Franca’ allowing the participants to experiment the tools, activities, methodologies in a space developed using permaculture principles
5. Peer to peer National Training. Each partner will implement the same training at the local level to receive direct feedback from other youth workers and young people. Each partner will involve at least 5 youth workers to transfer the new acquired competences at local level, reaching another 20 youth workers; fine-tuning of the TC.
6. Drafting of the Guideline: Guidelines will be drafted to collect useful information on how to build an activity plan with a permaculture approach and containing facilitators practical tip
7. Translation of the guideline into IT, GR, PO, SP to ensure maximum impact

Foreseen outputs:

• Creation of the Focus Group Guidelines
• 5 Local Focus Groups implemented in each country
• 1 Training Course addressing 20 Youth Workers from the Partners organizations. 100 youth workers trained (20 per partner organization)
• 5 Peer National Trainings implemented in each country
• Creation of Guidelines for Youth Workers

Due to their distinct local contexts and expertise, the participating organizations will have varying and customized impacts from the project, even though they all have prior experience with sustainable projects. Therefore, the project will have a significant effect on each partner in different and unique ways.

In addition to the participating organizations, relevant stakeholders such as organizations focused on youth education and sustainability will benefit from the sharing of best practices identified during the project. Communities will also gain knowledge about European opportunities through the sharing of direct experiences from each organization. Creating networks between partner organizations and local entities will allow youth workers to improve their skill sets and benefit from tested best practices throughout the project.

Given the nature of each partner organization, they are in direct contact with local entities working in the same field. Thus, the impact of the project is expected to have a widespread reach and result in future projects within local networks. The dissemination strategy and actions carried out by the partner organizations throughout the project ensure that these best practices can be replicated in various contexts and over time. The E-learning course will be accessible to diverse target groups, allowing the methodologies and techniques to be adapted at international or local levels in different contexts. As each context has unique conditions and approaches, adjusting the project’s results correctly will have a widespread transnational impact.

Moreover, during the Final Event that Permacultura Cantabria will lead in Spain there will be the opportunity to share the materials produced within the local network so as to reach more people and have a wider impact. This event will indeed involve Cantabrian public institutions, including the University of Cantabria, Santander government, and several small municipalities, with whom Permacultura Cantabria has a history of collaboration on rural development projects.