Official contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

18 April - 25 May 2017

Six-week Course for Asylum Seekers in Design for Sustainability and Organic Food Systems, taking place in Avnstrup, Denmark.

Each year thousands of men, women and children attempt a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Many of them are trying to escape poverty, the impacts of climate change and war. Not only has migration become an everyday reality, but there is supportive evidence that migrants are instrumental in the development of economies. Many professional, service and agricultural industries would not function without the human, economic and cultural capital of migrants and their integration.

According to the Institute of Policy Studies in Education “migrant education is the most important issue facing European education over the next decade” (London Metropolitan University, 2014).

In this context this project adopted integrated approaches to sustainability education, providing migrants and asylum seekers with the right competencies within the three dimensions of sustainability– environment, society and economy - with organic food production as a transversal theme.

Project Objectives

Society

Enhancing solidarity between migrants and local communities, encouraging collaborative decision-making, designing inclusive local governance systems, acquiring tools for conflict facilitation

Economy

Enhancing ethical, fair and transparent business relations, increasing autonomy from the agro-industrial system, promoting viable livelihoods and socio entrepreneurship, bridging the gap between producers and consumers

Environment

Understanding the impact and developing resilience to climate change in food, land, biodiversity and water systems, bringing culture back to agri-culture, appreciation of the diversity of cultural influences on food patterns.