The ´Iris´ project aims to foster employability and regional development in deprived rural areas by developing a vocational training programme in organic farming, a sector with an increasing need of qualified workers. This project is addressed to young and long-term unemployed people with low qualifications, and other disadvantaged groups coming from deprived rural areas. The project partners will create an initial vocational training curriculum and teaching materials to provide participants with knowledge and skills that qualify them to enter the organic farming workforce. The curriculum will also include personal-development tools to encourage self-confidence and integration methods. Practical placements will be offered in a newly created network of organic farms. The training programme will be tested in educational and vocational bodies located in similar deprived rural areas through the networking capacity of the partnership. A pedagogical guide will be available in Spanish and English, both printed and in CD ROM format. This project will benefit from the synergies of the partners' participation in Leonardo I in training programmes, particularly in vocational training in forestry.