Learning Green Care - Using Nature as Part of Vocational Speacial Education

This submitted 24-month cross-sectoral project is implemented to learn more of usage of Green Care model in vocational special education and teaching models. Partners of this project are from Finland, Sweden, Norway and Belgium. Project includes 5 transnational partner meetings and 2 LTT activities that will support the project process and successfulness. In each partner meeting there will be 5 participants (coordinators, professors, experts), pilot groups in Kiipula will have around 20 participants (students, teachers, supervisors) and LTT acitvities will include total of 20 participant (Finnish group+ Belgian group). Participants of pilot groups are students from two different qualifications in Kiipula; animal care and vocational pre-education. For the LTT activities will attend other one of the pilot groups from Finland and a working group from Belgium. All participants that are students or workers are with less opportunities (disability, health problem, learning difficulty, social obstacles). In addition to special need participants there will be teaching/instructing staff accompanying the groups and making sure the right implementation of the project. The project reinforces cooperation between VET organisation, higher education institutions and social enterprise to solve problems and learn good ideas, practices and methods. Data that is collected throughout the project is integrated in the development of pedagogical solutions (learning environment), improvement of teaching, planning and testing of online teacher training and finally development of visitor/customer services. These are the desired results within this project among the interests of other organizations. The project is looking for to have realistic, pragmatic and useful results that can be well-established in the education for students with special needs. The project was created because there was a need and interest to develop new ways and a new kind of learning environment for advancing students' key competences. Key competences and lifelong learning have the main role in all fields of education and this is especially highlighted in education for students with special needs for whom adopting of these competences is more diffucult. Key competences are crucial part of studies and they able more active and independent lives for our students. In teaching of key competences nature and animals are tested to some extent but not fully researched and understood in which ways those elements consolidate learning and adopting of key competences. Our students have different kind of disabilities, delays and disorders but also more and more of students have social incapabilties and behavioral problems that require nontraditional attention in order to enrich their learning outcomes. This project digs deeper into nature-assisted/nature-based teaching by academic and scientistic point of you and gives us opportunity to benchmark practical ways to develop our activities and reach our organizational aims. Overall impact of the project is shown as improvement of quality of education by strenghtening competences of our teaching staff and by creating more creative learning environment for our students. After the project all participants will have more knowledge on welfare effects that are generated by nature-based learning and the project has borught added value for research and development. All data is documented and saved during the project and will be available for at least internal use and dissemination of project results will be shared and communicated for various relevant target groups in organizational, regional, national and international level. The cross-sectoral international project increses effectiveness and brings added value to the development process. Each partner brings their substance expertice and commits to the development objectives within the project. To come up with innovative and remarkable results and impact partners chosen for the project are high-standard experts that provide both academical and practical knowledge for the common benefit. Project also strengthens cooperation and capacity in transnational level.