In the rural municipality of Stoumont (Belgium), a group of young people spent ten days exploring how food, nature and social enterprise can work together for community wellbeing. This Youth Exchange was part of the wider three year process “Social Enterprise and Natural Capital”, which links protected areas, social entrepreneurship and youth participation across several European countries.
The activity was hosted at Le Fagotin, a rural eco pedagogical centre that is at the same time a youth centre, nature centre, educational farm and social tourism venue. Surrounded by the landscapes of Parc naturel des Sources, participants experienced daily life on the farm and discovered how an organisation can combine environmental education, local food production and community based hospitality.
During the first days, the group took part in hands on food activities: wild cuisine with foraged plants, food conservation techniques, and goat milking with butter and cheese making. A hike with donkeys led them to Le Petit Monde de Desnié, a permaculture microfarm and school, where they could see in practice how long term design, biodiversity and soil care are integrated into a resilient rural project.
Building on these experiences, the second part of the Youth Exchange focused on four parallel workshops: Educational Activities, Start up of Social Enterprises, Marketing Campaign, and Communication Tips and Tools. Each group started from the concrete example of food and natural capital and developed ideas, formats and tools that could be used by youth workers and social enterprises in their own contexts. Outcomes included new educational proposals, communication materials and initial concepts for community oriented business models.
The results were finally presented to the local community and the team of Le Fagotin, creating a useful exchange of perspectives between international participants and local actors. You can download the full project result to explore the detailed stories, methods and visual materials produced during the Youth Exchange.
