Projects
Project "Establishing a Training and
Production Centre for Youth Participation and Sustainable Agriculture"
​
We developed this project because we wanted to change two things:
​
-
We wanted to move our society towards more sustainable ways of land use and land cultivation.
-
We also wanted to help disadvantaged children and young people learn skills and find opportunities for personal and professional development through the opportunities the agricultural sector in Bulgaria presents.
Short presentation of the project:
This project will enable young people to learn about sustainable agriculture and acquire skills to find employment or start
their business in this field. Sustainable agriculture is an emerging field in Bulgaria and contains an enormous potential for
ecological food production, economic development. The project will achieve this through setting up a training and
production centre for youth participation and sustainable agriculture in the village of Nadarevo, Bulgaria, and will offer
learning and training facilities, hostel, production field for practices, and agricultural equipment to maintain the vegetable
gardens. The centre will organize a Green School and a Green Academy for different groups of children and young
people.The training centre will be registered as a Centre for Vocational Trainig and will develop a social enterprise.
The project’s main target group will be young people not in education, employment or training.
Main activities:
​
-
Establishing a training centre in sustainable agriculture
The training facilities and the main offices of the Centre will be developed in the Foundation’s existing buildings in the
village of Nadarevo, which will be renovated and refurbished. The buildings will be redone into separate training and
administrative units. The foundation will acquire extra premises, which will be used for accommodation of participants.
-
Developing a production field and a mini organic garden
The production field will encompass an area of 30 decares of land in the village of Nadarevo. There will be fruits and
vegetables, cultivated by the methods of sustainable agriculture, whose produce will support the social enterprise.
The organic garden will combine decorative plants, fruit trees and vegetables, cultivated according to permaculture
principles. This will be the place where small children, aged between 3 and 5, will have their practical learning.
-
Team of experts and mentors
To conduct the project activities the foundation will engage educational and agricultural experts, lecturers from universities and schools, etc. The lessons will be supported by local people as mentors, who will share their personal experience in
agriculture and gardening.
Project duration: 1 May 2016 – 30 April 2021.
The project is financially supported by the Velux Foundations, Denmark.
Project "Sustainability and Social Justice"
​
Sustainability and Social Justice is a project led by the UK organisation Centre for Welfare Reform. The focus of the project is on encouraging sustainable ways of living locally and globally, which is one of the greatest challenges of 21st century. The main aim of the project is to discover, support and disseminate examples of sustainable practices from around the world. It encourages people to demonstrate how we can ‘live the future now’.
​
Botanica Life Foundation is participating in the project as an innovative organization in the field of social justice and sustainable development. By focusing on sustainable agriculture, the foundation contributes to achieve a sustainable society. Supporting young people from the disadvantaged groups in society to develop their entrepreneurship skills, Botanica Life Foundation is working for equal opportunities and social justice for all.
​
At the core of Sustainability and social justice project lies the concept that we, as people, will not be able to live in harmony with our planet, unless we find a way to live in harmony with ourselves. To achieve this balance, we need to work together on all aspects of life simultaneously.
​
Sustainability means treating the planet fairly for the future generations, living in harmony with the environment and meeting the needs of existing and future generations. By living sustainably, we are clearly saying that we want to leave the best inheritance to our children, i.e. a planet which is safe and peaceful. Sustainability means balancing economic, social and environmental factors for a better world for everyone.
​
Sustainability has three main strands:
​
1. Social - ensuring a strong, healthy and just society for existing and future communities
2. Economic - where environmental and social costs fall on those who cause them, and resources are distributed fairly and efficiently
3. Environmental - respecting and protecting the limits of the planet's environment, resources and biodiversity.
Botanica Life Foundation is happy to share its experience with international organizations, working towards a fairer and more sustainable world for ourselves and future generations.