The Grow Project was conceptualised to bridge the gap between theory and practice for children of all ages and capabilities, learning about the natural sciences and specifically, about how things grow. The project is based on three main premises: 1) That we learn more effectively by putting theory into practice. 2) That we can learn from and teach each other. 3) That contact with people from other countries and cultures facilitates inter-cultural tolerance, understanding and respect. The idea is simple. Children start growing projects, (they can be large or small scale depending on the individual preferences and circumstances of the teams) the details and progress of which are posted on their blogs. The Grow Project is the name of the overall project, but contains sub-projects which are named simply based on whatever is being grown. We have used The Tomato Project as an example, but other projects could be The Sunflower Project, The Runner Beans Project, The Cherry Project etc. Each home page will differ slightly in its design to incorporate what is being grown. Other children growing the same things or children growing different things can follow other teams, offer advice and support to each other and depending on their location, teams may even be able to visit each other in person.

1. Designing a New Learning Environment
October-December 2012
End-of-course Project
Team members: Stephanie Gay, Lia Peinador and Isabelle Fabre
Presentation of The Grow Project
The rationale:
The Grow Project was conceptualised to bridge the gap between theory and practice for children
of all ages and capabilities. learning about the natural sciences and specifically, about how things
grow. The project is based on three main premises:
1) That we learn more effectively by putting theory into practice.
2) That we can learn from and teach each other.
3) That contact with people from other countries and cultures facilitates inter-cultural
tolerance, understanding and respect.
The idea is simple. Children start growing projects, (they can be large or small scale depending on
the individual preferences and circumstances of the teams) the details and progress of which are
posted on their blogs. The Grow Project is the name of the overall project, but contains sub-
projects which are named simply based on whatever is being grown. We have used The Tomato
Project as an example, but other projects could be The Sunflower Project, The Runner Beans
Project, The Cherry Project etc. Each home page will differ slightly in its design to incorporate
what is being grown. Other children growing the same things or children growing different things
can follow other teams, offer advice and support to each other and depending on their location,
teams may even be able to visit each other in person.
Step by step: how it works: (Please also see the pdf presentation which will give you an idea of
how the website will look. Please note that the contents are purely fictitious.)
STEP 1: Form a team
Children form a team with an adult team
leader (team leader must be over 18). The
teams can be any size and can be classmates,
a family, a social group, a group of
neighbours etc.
STEP 2: Decide on team name and
The team decides what their team name will
type of project
be and whether they are going to join an
existing project or suggest starting a new
one. They can search for existing projects on
the website by clicking on Find a project and
using the filters.

2. STEP 3: Teams either join an existing Teams interested in joining Teams can suggest starting
project or suggest a new one. an existing project are a new project when they
directed to that projects register. We will consider
homepage. They can their requests set up their
search for other teams homepage. The first team
working on the same in each category is also
project either by using the indicated on the map in a
map feature or using filters different colour.
to search by various
categories such as country
and language. They also
have access to the Learn
and Share pages, even if
they have not yet
registered.
STEP 4: Register your team Teams register on the website and specify if
they need help with materials. This
registration process gives the team access
to a team blog area which can be
personalised by the group. This is where
they will add all of their blog entries,
videos and photos as well as having all of
the usual features of a blog such as to
follow other blogs, be followed etc. They
will also be given an internal email
address which enables them to contact
with other teams through the Grow
Project website.

3. STEP 5: Start growing! The teams look at the Learn section which
contains simple illustrated material on how
plants grow, pollination, photosynthesis,
insects etc. and simultaneously start to grow
their plants. They keep their team blog updated
which can be viewed by other teams. They can
also ask for help, gives tips and advice etc. in
the Share section as well as emailing other
teams directly using the internal mail system.
STEP 6: End of project ... Teams ‘show’ their final plants and decide how
... and start of a new one they are going to close their project (sell what
they have grown, make jam etc. Ideas can be
shared between teams in the collaborative
space, Share. They can also find fun facts,
jokes, cultural information, FAQ’s, access
technical help and even find help and tips on
starting a small business with what they have
grown.
System function and features:
The Grow Project requires a website which allows the following:
 Online registration for groups, sponsors and volunteers
 Private customizable blog areas for groups with: space for multimedia files to be uploaded;
an internal mailbox
 An open forum (Share it!) common to all projects which allows teams to post questions,
comments, share stories etc.
The Grow Project
Interactive map &
Homepage
The Tomato Project Find and join a
Homepage project Start a new project Lesson 1: How
plants grow
Team blogs Share! More lessons
Project homepages Project homepages
Team blogs Team blogs

4. Target audience and learning conditions:
The target audience of the Grow Project is groups of children of all ages along with an adult team
leader. The groups can be of any size and can be made up of school classes, families, social
groups, religious groups, groups of friends and neighbours etc. The groups can be of any size.
Groups can join the project from anywhere in the world and, as the Project is based around a
simple web page, you only need internet access and ideally, to get the most out of the project, a
device with photo and video capabilities. For this reason, we do not expect to find any
idiosyncrasies/compatibility problems which will negatively affect the project. As the Project is
based around team work, it is not necessary for each member of the group to have access to this
technology. Participants do not need to have a high-level of IT know-how to participate.
Additionally, the project does not assume a particular amount of previous knowledge in the
natural sciences. Simple, clear theory lessons are provided on the website as well as fun and
useful links. There is no limit as to how many projects a team can join or how many times they
suggest starting a project. Teams can also be involved in multiple projects simultaneously.
The website will be available to begin with in 4 languages: English, Spanish, French and
Cantonese. This is to try to make the website accessible to as many children as possible from the
start. In a later phase, more languages would be added based upon demand. However, included in
the website would be a translation tool such as Google translator. The translations will be done by
the three Founding members who are French, Spanish and English. We will search for a volunteer
to help with the translation into Cantonese.
Why should we consider the Grow Project to be useful?
The Grow Project provides education for everyone as well as being environmentally friendly and
actively contributing to improving people’s local environment and lives. For children who attend
school, it is a way to bridge the gap between theory and practice in Science. For children who for
whatever reason do not attend formal classes, all the information they need is provided on the
website. Once the project is up and running, there is also the possibility of using the products
grown to start small, local sustainable businesses which could ultimately provide a livelihood for
families and communities. During the entire process, teams have contact and receive support and
encouragement from other teams of children who have already completed or are involved in a
similar project. This could be with children on a different continent via the group blogs or even a
project close by where children could actually visit each other to see how things are growing. It’s
a fantastic way to promote inter-cultural understanding among children who otherwise may not
even know that a place exists never mind actually talk to someone from there!
With regards to sustainability, The Grow Project requires very little investment from the teams
themselves to get up and running and for this reason is easily sustainable. As the teams can decide
on what they want to grow based on what is available to them locally, material costs are low. In
the case of teams who want to participate but don’t have access to all of the materials, help will be
given via sponsors or friends of the Grow Project. Groups will be encouraged to join or start
projects that are compatible with the environmental conditions of where they live. All they will
need is the seeds, something to grow them in (a patch of land, plant pots, plastic tubs etc.) and
some soil, as well as access to water (including non-potable). Children living in extreme
environments such as the Arctic or in the desert may have additional needs for their growing
project but when a project is suggested by a group, support will be given by us to get it off the
ground if necessary. For this reason we have decided to include sponsors in the project. Local
sponsors could be found by the groups themselves, by ourselves based on an actual need or

5. companies and individuals could register on the website as sponsors for future projects. Any
financial contributions/donations should be made directly to The Grow Project which will then
use the money to fund the projects internally.
Whilst searching for similar existing projects, we discovered a vast number of local community
groups working on localised growing projects. Groups such as these would be invited to become
sponsors, for example. Sponsors should not contribute money directly to projects, but are to
provide materials for growing, advice and expertise.
Business/implementation model:
The Grow Project has been essentially conceptualised as a non-profit organisation comprised of
the following:
Permanent paid employees:
 Community Manager: responsible for monitoring activity on the site, social media,
marketing and events)
 Project Co-ordinator: Co-ordinating all relations with sponsors, friends and volunteers
(possibly part-time depending on number of projects in operation, to become full-time as
necessary).
External services:
 Web design, development and maintenance
 Accounting
As the project grows, small local teams of paid workers and unpaid volunteers may be created
covering specific geographical areas, co-ordinated by a central figure. The Founders of The Grow
Project will be involved as general consultants and co-ordinators, providing general support in all
areas and will not receive financial remuneration for their involvement during the early stages.
Depending on how the project evolves and grows, their roles may turn into full-time paid
positions.
Sponsors: Companies (large or small) providing material support for projects or making financial
donations directly to The Grow Project.
Volunteers: helping with events, publicity, local hands-on help with projects and fundraising.
Friends of The Grow Project: Individuals who make donations towards the project (either one-
off donations or regular donations to a specific team or projects in general).
In terms of start up and to meet the initial costs of designing, developing and building the website,
as well as launch costs and marketing we will apply for funding from agencies such as: UNICEF,
Save the Children, WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and The National Lottery (UK) and look for
government subsidies. To guarantee investment for a fixed period of time, we will ideally look for
investors who would be willing to invest for a minimum of 5 years, but of course we will consider
all offers. Responsible advertising will also be considered as a way to finance the project in the
long term, paying for fixed costs such as salaries. We will also start to identify possible sponsors
and Friends for the project and would also consider crowd-funding as a way to raise money. Once
the initial website has been created, in the first year we are expecting ongoing costs of: website

6. maintenance and upgrade (as more multimedia is added, storage capacity would have to increase
etc.), permanent staff costs, marketing costs and external provider’s fees. Permanent staff will
work from home until it is necessary to expand and look for a centralised office space after year 1.
We have calculated that the start-up costs and keeping the project afloat for the first year are as
follows:
Community Manager: 30,000€ / annual salary (1 year contract)
Project Co-ordinator (part-time): 12,000€
Design, development and maintenance of website + technical support (1 year): 40,000€
Accounting: 10,000€ (1 year)
Extra costs: 8,000€
TOTAL SET UP AND MAINTENANCE COST FOR 1 YEAR=100,000.00€
Any profits generated by the organisation will be redirected to fund new projects and expand.
Permanent employees will not receive profit-related bonuses of any sort.
The website is to be launched on a symbolic day such as Earth Day (in 2013, this is on April 22nd)
coinciding with the start of a new project. A promotional video will be made talking about the
project and featuring the first group of children involved. From then on, social media would be
vital to keep the project ‘alive’ on networking sites (Facebook, Twitter etc.) as well as events etc
which would be organised by Marketing.
With regards to sustainability, the beauty of The Grow Project is that once the basic model is
established, it can grow relatively independently without the need for large investments.
Related existing projects:
After doing our research, we believe that The Grow Project id the first of its kind. However, listed
below are some projects that we consider to be in some way related:
http://www.thegrowproject.org (Community projects based in Haiti)
http://www.thegrowingproject.org/ (Making fresh local food available to residents in Northern
Colorado)
http://www.growproject.org.au/ (It’s not very clear exactly what this is but it seems to be related
to sourcing food locally)
http://www.envirocare.org.au/growproject/pages/sites.htm (A reforestation project in Australia)
http://www.onetomato.org/ (A healthy eating programme for kids/A programme to encourage
gardeners to grow more and donate excess to food banks)
http://www.tomatosphere.org/ (Growing different types of tomatoes as part of an investigation
into providing food, water and oxygen during space exploration)
Thank you for taking the time to read about our project, we hope you find it as inspiring as we do!
Stephanie, Lia and Isabelle.