EU4Youth: “School Garden” – from seed to fruit and back to seed

After four years of implementation of the “School Garden” project, eight educational institutions in the Republic of Moldova benefit today from gardens equipped with modern equipment. In these gardens are applied principles of ecological agriculture and social entrepreneurship, thus ensuring a safe environment and a healthy food regime for students, teachers as well as communities. All this was possible with the financial support of the European Union, through the EU4Youth program, and co-financing by the International Green Cross during the years 2018-2022.

“In December we completed the first stage of the project and we are happy that the school gardens, created four years ago, are now fully capable of self-management“, says Adriana Velicinschi, the project coordinator. “In addition to the fact that these gardens became green laboratories over time, where children and teachers had the opportunity to spend outdoor science, biology, ecological education classes, these gardens are also small business incubators, because the cultivated production is sold at local fairs, as well as at those in Chișinău.  The money earned from sales are reinvested to cover the needs of schools. Thus, small entrepreneurs learn to manage the resources that they dispose.”

As part of the project, a competition of business ideas in the agricultural field was held for young people from rural areas. Following this, Dumitru Marandiuc from the city of Sîngerei and Ion Babin from the village of Rîșcova, Criuleni district launched their own start-ups by installing two agricultural greenhouses where apple trees and vegetables are grown.

In total, more than 1.400 pupils and students, 16 local coordinators, 800 pupils aged 7-18 were involved in the project. More than 25 tons of vegetables, more than 2 tons of fruits and berries, as well as about 100 kilograms of aromatic plants were grown.

More details about the project’s beneficiaries and activities can be found in the video spots published on the Facebook page of the National Environment Centre.

Implementation partners of the project are the National Environmental Centre of Moldova, the Green Cross of Belarus, the Green Cross of Ukraine, the John Paul II Italy Foundation.

The network of Kindergartens is to be expanded in 2023 with the financial support of the Swedish Government.