Abstract:

This project was born in 2020 to redevelop the outdoor space of the “Borgo Padova” Educational Complex in Castelfranco Veneto (Italy) to make it a learning opportunity for introducing children to the local agricultural and natural contexts. According to eco-pedagogy principles, the educational-didactic approach offers authentic, collaborative and active experiences. In this way, educational practice is not only concerned with the study of living organisms but also with the emotional, affective and value aspects associated with them, thus facilitating the individual's cultural roots with his natural environment. Once the value of their environment, physical and relational, has been internalised, thanks to an empathic transfer process, it will be possible for students to adopt similar behaviours towards the global environment and thus change personal lifestyles as indicated in goals 4, 11 and 15 of the 2030 Agenda. The planning envisages continuity plans between the various school orders and promotes the circulation of the skills acquired by students of different ages. In the first step, a synergistic agriculture activity was carried out in the school garden according to the theory of Hazelip and Masanobu. All this has allowed students to perceive themselves as an active and conscious part of the ecosystem that they have created to develop, with learning by doing, a scientific approach to reality. The Municipality of Castelfranco Veneto and some local associations have supported the project's mission appropriately to their institutional characteristics. In addition, in Summer, when school finished, parents and their children took care of the synergistic or social garden for the community. Over time, the initial project has been enriched with the new activity “The garden at no cost”, with the partnership of The Coldiretti association. It allows students to become entrepreneurs, aware that what they produce and exchange has "a circular value" to be generated, preserved, and reused. the University of Padua has contributed to disseminating these results and is evaluating any research on the educational-pedagogical impact on stakeholders. Such a context has consistently allowed the educational approach of Outdoor Education. It combines the study of environmental aspects and themes and participation in those activities related to the natural environment, such as balance games, tactile or balance bike routes and horizontal climbing. Therefore, the school garden is now a privileged space for cognitive, social, psychological and affective experiences. They also continue in the classroom to create a common thread between the indoor and the outdoor, with results that affect the profit of pupils and their ability to transform the classroom into a "research community". In the third in-progress step, an orchard with ancient native varieties will be planted thanks to the support of the Slow Food Association for biodiversity protection. Furthermore, a greenhouse for sowing vegetables and flowers will be installed. Over the next three years, the project will include the construction of a pond to study this particular ecosystem and an educational nursery for tall trees to support urban reforestation. Ultimately, we would realise a weather station to learn about climate parameters and a beekeeping path with a Bee Box.

Keywords:

Biodiversity, biology, ecology, learning by doing, outdoor education, peer tutoring, philosophy for children.