Program
The BINGN Apprenticeship Program provides a unique learning experience; giving the next generation the opportunity to grow and learn from established farmers and experts through a combination of long-term internships, seminars and mentorship.
How we work
- Internship – Learning with guidance from experienced farmers at the BINGN base farm and farms across the Nordic countries.
- Seminars – Learning from teachers, farm-visits and fellow students on the base farm and at different locations across the Nordic countries.
- Self-Reflection & Mentorship – Self-directed learning through portfolio, daily logbook, frequent reflection sessions and mentoring.
Structure 1st year
- Internship on one of the base farms (Fokhol Gård, Alm Østre, more coming)
- Weekly BINGN Day: Theoretical & Practical sessions
- Lectures with contributors
- On farm teaching with farmers
- Farm visits
- Art (Eurythmy, Painting, Singing)
- BINGN – Time: tasks, project work, reflection & mentorship
- Seminar in Sweden/Finnland or Danmark
Structure 2nd & 3rd year
- Internships
- Learning with guidance from experienced farmers at farms across the Nordic countries.
- Seminars
- four seminars per year, one seminar in each Nordic country
- Learning from teachers, visiting farms and meeting fellow students at different locations across the Nordic countries.
- Artistic sessions
- Self-Reflection & Mentorship
- Self-directed learning through portfolio, daily logbook, frequent reflection sessions and mentoring.
Where we study
The first year of the BINGN Apprenticeship Program takes place in Norway on two neighbouring farms, Fokhol Gård and Alm Østre, where the students live, work and learn together.
During the second and third year students will find their own internship farms in any of the Nordic countries – Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland – and will come together for seminars in different locations and countries throughout the year.
During the apprenticeship program, students will visit around 60 farms, gathering a broad range of impressions and knowledge.
Curriculum
BINGN is an internship program integrating comprehensive farming experience with on-farm teaching, contributor-led content and peer to peer learning. The BINGN curriculum covers specific subjects such as soil science & soil cultivation, plant cultivation, animal husbandry, machinery, farm-economics, food processing, agricultural history & politics.
In biodynamic agriculture the farm is considered a living organism that is part of its surrounding and place as a whole. The curriculum therefore also contains holistic subjects such as astronomy, spiritual science, goetheanistic observation and arts.
Aims and Objectives
The BINGN Apprenticeship Program enables the apprentices to acquire the skills, knowledge and understanding to work as a confident, independent worker within an organic or biodynamic farming enterprise.
After the 3 year BINGN Apprenticeship Program the apprentice is able to:
- perform the main regular work on an organic and biodynamic farm independently, without close control of management and on his/her own initiative.
- find and consult resources to find solutions to unknown situations
- plan, coordinate and monitor specific practical farming activities and can organize and instruct co-workers.
- take responsibility for his/her labor, tools, machines and the health of people he/she works with.
- Understand and work with health and safety requirements
The apprentice:
- possesses good communication skills and is able to improve his/her own learning performance and problem solving.
- has a conscious, critical and self-aware approach to anthroposophy and biodynamic agriculture.
- learns to develop and organize themselves in such a way, that soil, plant, animals and the wholeness of nature becomes his/her teacher.
- takes up and understands the vocation of the farmer, his/her commitment to take care of and develop the soil, plant, animal and human being.
- acquires the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding to develop, design, plan and implement with confidence an organic or biodynamic enterprise.
- Understands the world around us as both, a material and spiritual reality.
The BINGN Apprenticeship Program also aims to:
- Achieve a mutually beneficial relationship between farmer and the apprentice. The farmer provides learning conditions for the apprentice and the apprentice contributes to the work needs of the enterprise.
- Create a foundation for developing an independent understanding of earth, nature, life and human beings from a spiritual perspective.
- Offer a teaching climate in which the apprentice can become familiar with the inner attitude and perspective required for biodynamic farming.
See our full curriculum here (Google Doc)
