Eine weitere neue Jungunternehmerin von BUPNET ist Fenna. Sie wird ihren EYE-Austausch in Wales auf einer Farm verbringen, die zugleich Bildungsangebote anbietet.
Fenna hat einen Bericht über ihre Erfahrungen der ersten beiden Monate geschrieben.

During the first month of the EYE exchange, I learned about the Cwm Harry Land Trust and their purpose of establishing businesses that are owned by communities. Their main goals are social cohesion and finding ways to protect the environment, which I find really intriguing. Their largest project, Ffarm Moelyci, which is a farm of 349 acres in Wales that is owned by several parties as a social project, involves a plant for converting biomass into charcoal, as well as a café that offers locally grown foods. I have been showed around and explored the farm area, as well as the biomass plant.

Colin and his colleagues have taken the time to explain how the plant works and have invited stakeholders for instance a local farmer who transforms residual biomass into charcoal on a small scale. This has given me good insights into the efforts of the local community and what impacts this can have on questioning and changing behaviour in a region.

Also, I have acquired more knowledge about the processes that occur in the plant when transforming biomass and the properties of biochar, and what further processes could potentially be applied. How this is already operated at other plants in Europe on a larger scale I was able to learn about as well in the scope of the exchange. This will also be taken aboard, as showing good-practice examples from all over Europe on the platform can empower potential stakeholders. At the same time my knowledge and ideas for the use of carbon products have been broadened, which has also raised my awareness for the use of carbon products in my surroundings.

My own passion for finding more sustainable ways of living is what drove me to working in this area. Especially the circular carbon economy is what I was eager to get involved with, which is why we have been working to establish an e-learning environment for potential stakeholders to receive extensive information, get active in this field and get the chance to collaborate with each other to create new ideas.

Informal learning is the driving force when it comes to distributing the message of this great project. This is a shared belief between me and my Host Entrepreneur. That is why we have set up an online platform for bringing together Colin’s expertise of circular carbon economy and sustainability in general and my expertise on e-learning. We have worked out a balanced concept of self-assessment and customized learning modules, so learners can acquire competences about learning fields that they feel they are lacking to make a change individually or as a business.

Currently, we are bringing the e-learning platform to life, aiming to address all components of competences (knowledge, skills, and attitudes). I have implemented seven units, which can be undergone individually or as a whole. Elements, that the moodle platform contains I have been creating with H5P, for instance interactive images or videos, as well as quizzes, and from materials that were provided by transnational projects, that Cwm Harry have been involved with, such as videos, images and presentations. This ensures real-life materials, that provide an authentic learning environment.

This platform will be a new addition to the sustainability education offers (SussEd) that Cwm Harry has already established over time, taking into consideration the accessibility of all people that are interested in this topic, with this open source environment. As this is the first e-learning offer in Cwm Harry’s repository this may lead to raising interest more target groups and spread our message.

At the same time, the results of my EYE exchange will be the starting point for my own business, as the platform will have been tested by actual learners, and will only have to be adjusted whenever necessary, as I have collected first contacts that could help recruit clients, and because I have been experiencing competence development myself regarding circular carbon economy and sustainability, as well as regional development in Wales. I am especially looking forward to customizing and fitting the LEVEL5 validation tool in the next step.