Social farming and educational needs: how kindergarten farms could fill a gap

Kindergarten farms are educational initiatives aiming to reinforce or even create relationships between nature and future generations involving them in agricultural settings. They take the form of Outdoor Education (OE), intending to enhance the outdoor environment in its various configurations, from an educational perspective. From the agricultural side, these activities are included in social farming (SF), represents a union between the educative sphere and the agriculture world and offering added farm revenue with a multifunctional view. In Italy, these educational services within the farms (‘Agrinidi’ and ‘Agriasili’) have grown recently, contributing to the educational system where services are marginally available or lacking. This study has focused on the families' needs concerning early childhood services in support of work–life balance; it also investigated their attitudes and interest in OE and in a structured educational service within a farm. To achieve such an aim, a literature study about OE and the educational initiatives within the farm in Italy was carried out. This was followed by an online questionnaire, carried out with 510 resident of a region of Italy (Umbria). The findings indicate high interest in educational services organized in both nature and farms. The statistical and econometric analysis of a subsample of 161 respondents having children under 6 years old has underlined that the attitudes towards OE are affected by specific socio-demographic variables: income and educational levels. In this respect, older participants having a high degree of education and benefiting from a high economic status showed the highest level of preference for OE services. In the conclusions, we underline that developing educational services "Agriasili" and "Agrinidi" can contribute to strengthening the synergy between agriculture and the education sector. They carry out social functions for the creation of collective well-being. They represent a diversification of farm business and a response to citizens' needs for early childhood education in nature; moreover, they push implementation of policies encouraging the birth of these services in rural and peri-urban areas where they are lacking or crowded.