1. FINDING THE RIGHT PARTICIPANTS
We are careful to invest in people who will make the most of this opportunity and we are inundated with applications. The most effective recruitment is by word of mouth and adverts in Community newspapers. Applicants are short listed and then interviewed by Facilitators.
We are proud that: 89% of SEED graduates go on to grow their own food long term.
2. ACCREDITED SKILLS PROGRAM
Module 1: Accredited Permaculture1 Training (APT) (4 weeks)
The first four weeks of the program focus on learning Permaculture design principles. The curriculum covers ecosystems, soils, water, energy and plant systems as well as the principles and practices of good design applied to a variety of contexts.
The Assessment of The APT is thorough and ensures that participating youth have the knowledge and hands on ability to design and implement resilient systems. This is a requirement of being an Accredited Trainer provider and ensures that we deliver world class training.
We are proud that: This module is SAQA Accredited, with participants also receiving the, internationally recognized, Permaculture Design Certificate and that participating youth have testified to the incredible value of the assessment.
Module 2: Personal Resilience (1 week)
We focus on our strengths and practice articulating these, we look at our work/life balance and set ourselves goals. We learn about CV writing and communication skills, including dealing with conflict through Non-Violent Communication. We learn self-care.
We are proud that: Our program works holistically with youth and allows them to find their strengths and their voices.
Module 3: Urban Regeneration (6 weeks)
Household Resilience focusses on designing and retrofitting local homes to be resilient to the shocks and stresses associated with Climate Change. Students are guided through a client interview process and then work with households to design and implement systems that impact on water, energy and food resilience as well as temperature management, waste, fuel and medicine.
We are proud that: Through the program 48 Mitchells Plain homes are retrofitted, impacting on local resilience and equipping students with the hands-on skills and the realities of working with clients.
Neighbourhood Resilience looks at how we design and retrofit our settlements to withstand shock and disturbance and with the service lines cut (Day Zero was a good example of this).
We explore international and local examples of best practice and look at social and city mapping and then apply Permaculture design principles at a neighbourhood level. This time the students conduct the interview and design on their own (with guidance) to implement systems at a street level – that include: social spaces, food co-operatives, food ways, storm water harvesting and compost toilets.
We are proud that: Through the program 48 street systems are designed and implemented in collaboration with the local community. This impacts on the resilience of Mitchells Plain, starts to create a demonstration of what is possible for neighbourhoods in the face of climate change.
Module 4: Job Shadows (4 weeks)
Through a database of local green enterprise partners, we have developed, we now place participants in relevant Job Shadows where they gain invaluable experience of the realities of running enterprises. We prioritize Job Shadows that have employment opportunities and, in this way, have secured many graduates work. The benefits to the network are that they are taking on youth that are educated and equipped and have proven their commitment to this work.
We are proud that: This boosts the local green economy through providing 16 000 free and capacitated hours and we grow partners that have started to articulate their skills gaps so that we can grow the training we offer to strengthen these.
3. PARTICIPATORY MONITORING & EVALUATION
We believe in participatory methodology. We run participatory workshops at the start of the program and start by defining exactly what we mean by resilience. This is empowering and creates a common purpose. We use the same process to map neighbourhood resilience, with locals giving meaningful input. We facilitate workshops with community members that have applied for the household and neighbourhood resilience design and implementation processes so that we can manage expectation and collectively decide on what the best strategies are for growing community resilience are. This helps us to evaluate what works and distil this into best practice that grows the effectiveness of the implementations and poised it for replication.
4. GROWING MULTIPLIERS (Training of Trainers)
Facilitators identify participating youth that are interested and have the aptitude to teach and invite them to the Training of Trainers Five Day workshop. This workshop teaches methodology, methods of learning and sees youth preparing and delivering lessons to a range of audiences.
We are proud that: Our lead facilitator is a Seeding Futures Alumnus. We employ youth to deliver aspects of the program, initially in a co-facilitator role. We are growing a broad base of confident and competent resilience teachers.
5. ALUMNI NETWORK
SEED believes in long-term relationships. All graduates are welcomed into the Alumni network, which meets for bi-monthly workshops that grow peer support and connection to relevant opportunities for further work, education and guide the voice of township youth in terms of what is needed for under-resourced communities in facing the realities of climate change.
