The “Our Common Language Is the Soil: Children and Agriculture” project, specifically designed for children, aimed to foster integration between two cultures through agricultural activities. Launched on the campus of Mardin Bahçeşehir College, the project brought together 40 refugee children and 40 children from the local community in a shared learning environment. The positive outcomes of the initial implementation enabled the project to be expanded and applied in other schools.
Within the framework of a program that combined theoretical knowledge with hands-on practice, students received weekly training on soil and seed cultivation delivered by agricultural engineers. Drawing on international literature and child-focused drama techniques, the curriculum addressed key topics such as “How does soil become degraded?”, “How does it recover?”, “How are healthy foods grown?”, and “How do we manage our waste?”
Throughout the program, students aged 8–12 engaged directly with soil in their school gardens, learned how to plant using heirloom seeds, and observed the transformation of the soil and the growth cycle of seeds in strawberry and potato gardens. Using the products they harvested, the children prepared jam and similar goods, created their own brands, and sold their products at school fairs, gaining hands-on experience in both agriculture and entrepreneurship.