Farm Education as a Component of Sustainable Development in Selected Countries of the European Union

Experience gained in numerous European countries indicates the need for a comprehensive approach to education for sustainable development. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that an increasingly important role in this process is played by educational farms. Moreover, the very notion of providing such services appears to be a natural element of educational efforts in rural areas and is closely related to the undertaking by farmers of various types of non-farming activity. Analysis of many years of experience of European countries in operating educational farms, combined with the results of international surveys, shows clearly that the provision of educational services on farms is a beneficial element of practical education. Furthermore, educational farms are an innovative example of didactics in rural areas, with their focus on thematic cohesion with respect to sustainable social, economic and environmental development.