History of the educational farm

The first educational farm was founded in the early XX century in Scandinavia, specifically in Norway, Denmark and Sweden, where a widespread custom to teach the residents of the city about country life had already been well established.

This phenomenon has inspired a movement that arose in 1914 in the United States, called the 4H Club (head, health, heart and hands) . The slogan of the 4H Club, then became established in Europe too, under the name "learn to do by doing".
Since the early seventies, the project has spread to other European countries especially Germany, Britain and Belgium to finally arrive in Italy in the nineties.
The first Italian Region to accept the idea of educational farming was Emilia-Romagna, whom in 1997, and thanks to the association Alimos, was able to live the first network of educational farms on its territory. The following year, the Region and its 9 Provinces initiated the project "Open Farm and Educational Farms", which currently has more than 300 farms accredited, indorsees of the "Quality Charter", the first document in Italy in which the requirements to become an educational farm were indicated.
By this time the concept of educational farms spread in different Italian regions, launching a season of growth in both numbers and quality of services offered by accredited farms and farm houses.
In our country, the individual regional governments are the ones to decide which farms can qualify as "educational" based on specific requirements considered essential and included in the regional maps drawn up on the model of the "Quality Charter" of Emilia-Romagna.
The Campana Region also prepared its own Quality Charter and the Alvaneta Farm has gained its position amongst its Certified regional educational farms.