Pedagogical farms in the city

Maintenance and management of urban nature, Knowledge creation and awareness raising

Objectives: - to raise awareness and empowerment of children with respect to their environment through the observation of plants and domestic animals" (Ref. 5) - to preserve historical traditions: farming --"pedagogical farms are the most concrete way to re-establish contact between urban youth and the rural world" (Ref. 1). The Charter of Biodiversity of Marseille mentions the farms in the section "Valorization of agricultural areas" (Ref. 8, page 47). -to maintain: "The three hectares of land are occupied by open-field and greenhouse crops, grazing areas, an orchard, a pond and a pedagogical garden." (Ref. 1) and "The three educational farms are real farms in the city. They are managed by a farmer, a public service delegate, who produces vegetable crops and caters for livestock (cattle, horses, donkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, hens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, rabbits ...)"(Ref. 1)

In the 1980s, the City of Marseille bought the land on which a farm was established in 1855 in order to protect it from potential developers and transformed it into an educational farm in 1988 (Ref. 2). "Today the farm is reserved for school groups but it is open to the public all year round, on Saturday morning and Wednesday afternoons, for family visits or the sale of organic vegetables. Activities and entertainment for children are also organized outside school hours." (Ref. 2) -"The farmer offers vegetable production and the discovery of animals such as horse, donkey, pig, lambs, rabbits, hens." (Ref. 1) -"Activities: discovering the rural world and farm work: caring for animals, vegetable garden, gardening. Main themes: the adaptation of living beings to their environment, the interdependence of living beings, the milk circuit, etc."(Ref. 5) -Workshops (in small groups): gardening, practical workshops in the vegetable garden and orchard, discovery of plants, observation of fauna and flora, plastic arts and cooking. (Ref. 6)

• Local government/Municipality
• Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
• Citizens or community groups
• Food producers and cultivators (i.e. farmers, gardeners)
• Young people and children