Organic agriculture to reach the social integration

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Increase the employability through organic agriculture

“The main objective in this kind of activity is to stimulate the motivation and empowerment between the users and the technicians because in many cases the users participate so they can continue living in the shelter and they don´t fully understand the opportunity to improve their situation for the future.”

Description of the activity

This activity aims to increase the employability of migrants through organic agriculture. In addition, the former users can also participate. The participants commit themselves to develop an individualised empowerment plan that includes individual and collective activities and workshops adapted to each one. The activities are carried out in the centre or the resources offered by the municipality are used. The activities can be job search workshops, basic skills, languages, interview workshops, organic farming, social networks, personal branding, or environment. Thanks to these workshops we manage to increase the skills and abilities for their employability so they can integrate better into their communities. During the initial weeks the multidisciplinary team of technicians is responsible for developing these activities which includes the collaboration of 18 volunteers and two technicians in organic agriculture. The average number of the users throughout the year is 32 users. This kind of activity is done every day of the week and includes the participation not only of the users of the shelter but also the ex-users.

The main challenge is getting the commitment of the participants and their adherence to the program and the threat is a lack of motivation

Competences

In this kind of activity, we have two types of competences: technicians in organic agriculture and socialworkers, working together. We need technical knowledge in organic agriculture for the garden technicians and specific competences of every type for the personalised activities.

Steps for the implementation of the activity

Firstly, it is very important that the users are involved in the development of a personal plan that includes individual and collective activities and workshops.

Find the internal and external resources to develop the activities like workshops to improve basic skills, the use of the garden to develop skills as team building, the commitment, routine, communication and other activities oriented to employment such as job research, work interviews, social networking, and help to develop a CV.

Selection and interviews with the users in order to design a personal plan according to the offer.

Periodic interviews with the user to follow each plan and to solve possible questions.

Materials and methods

Infrastructure:
A place that can be provided to the users to satisfy principal needs such as a place to sleep, food and maintenance. We need also a place to develop the activities and a place where the garden and the greenhouse are located.

Materials and human resources:
For developing this activity, we need several kinds of buildings It´s important to remember that in this resource the users live on the site every day and obviously they need all the infrastructure including bedrooms, bathrooms, a multipurpose room and all the tools related to organic agriculture (seeds, tools, etc).Regarding the human resources we have a multitask team that works together including the coordinator, technicians, volunteer, etc.

Time/Workload:
The time needed to undertake the activity is approximately 15 hours per week for the agriculture technicians and for the rest of technicians 40 hours per week.

Learning outcomes for the participants

With these kinds of activities and the personalised plans, at the end the users will acquire and improve skills to increase their employability and their social integration in the host country.
They can also develop social skills such as team working, improved language skills, a respect for Spanish culture, and an understanding of Spanish food.

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