Between 18-19 June 2020, 16 teachers from educational institutions involved in the project “EU4Youth: School Garden" attended the "School Garden - perspectives and opportunities for rural areas in the Republic of Moldova" training, organized by the National Environment Center.

The seminar took place in conditions of maximum safety and social distance, in the gymnasium in Oxentea, Dubasari district (on June 18th) and at Ecovillage Moldova in Rascova, Criuleni district (on June 19th).

The seminars were oriented towards the face-to-face discussion of the activities between the participants of the first generation of the project with those who were selected through a competition this year.

The teachers got acquainted with the experience of the participants from the "Grigore Vieru" Primary School, t. Ștefan Vodă, Țaul Center of Excellence and EcoVillage Moldova from Râșcova, and the representatives from Oxentea Gymnasium made a presentation tour to the participants by which they showed the greenhouses, the garden, the plants cultivated within the project - tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, beets, tomatoes , beans, onions. Thus, the new educational institutions together with the coordinators Sergiu Opaeț, Maria Goian, Eleonora Șchiopu, Rita Negru-Vodă were inspired and made clear in the development of the project.

The participants also discussed how the activities can be carried out in the new year of studies, considering the new conditions, adapting their plans of activities.

A model of the packaging and label for the products from the School garden was elaborated. We are optimistic and hope that in the autumn we will be able to go to fairs with the sale of products from the School Garden.

The second day of the seminar was a more practical one. Participants learned about good practices for collecting rainwater for irrigation and designing the garden in a sustainable way. The representative of Ecovillage, Liliana Botnaru, also presented the soil protection techniques: crop rotation, mucilage, terracing and how soil tillage affects biodiversity.

An interesting and important topic for organic farming discussed by the participants was the natural methods of plant protection - how plants can be combined to protect them from harmful insects or other invasive plants.

The EU4Youth: School Garden for Agricultural Enterprise Development project is funded by the European Union.

The responsibility for the content of these materials lies with the National Environmental Center, a public organization, and in no way reflects the views of the European Union.