Author: Darko Jancheski

On the 13 th of June 2023, Green Growth Platform in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture, University Goce Delchev – Stip, organized a workshop dedicated to the Application of digital technologies for sustainable food systems and sustainable agriculture.

The event was also supported by AGFutura Technologies.

During the sessions, the current status of food loss and food waste in EU and North Macedonia was presented and the need of systematic institutional approach and legal regulation of these important issues was highlighted.

The digital solution for supporting the redistribution of surplus food from producers, retailers and farmers to the potential food recipient developed within Ploutos project in Serbia and North Macedonia was promoted.

Proactive discussion and valuable ideas were generated from different key stakeholders, researchers, policy makers, primary agricultural production and industry representatives related to technological aspects of the platform and the food donation process.

This workshop presented a great opportunity to communicate the Ploutos ideology, exchange experiences, ideas and build networks around significant topics in sustainable food production and sustainable agri-food value chains.

The Faculty of Agriculture – Stip, Goce Delcev University – Stip, has been actively engaged in educational, research, and practical activities in the agriculture sector for the past sixteen years, contributing to its development not only in the country but also in the broader region. As part of its efforts to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration among various agricultural stakeholders, the Faculty is organizing the 3rd International Meeting Agriscience & Practice (ASP 2023). The event gave a chance to participants to present and discuss original scientific and practical findings in different areas of agriculture.

The 3rd International Meeting Agriscience & Practice (ASP 2023) aims to connect and promote scientific achievements and practical knowledge in various thematic areas. The event is intended to bring together stakeholders from the agriculture sector to share their knowledge, experiences, and challenges. The ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between research and fieldwork, both in the country and the broader international context.

We are pleased to announce that the Green Growth Platform took part in this event, joining other stakeholders in the agriculture sector. The participation of the Green Growth Platform underscores the importance of sustainable agriculture practices and the need to integrate research and practical knowledge to achieve green growth.

Green Growth Platform is an innovative organization that is committed to promoting sustainable growth and development through its various projects. One of its flagship initiatives is the use of renewable energy sources to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate change. Another key focus of the organization is the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices that improve soil health and conserve water resources, while also increasing food security and promoting economic development in rural communities. Other participants had a lot to hear from our colleagues that were present at the opening day of the Agriscience & Practice (ASP 2023) Meeting.

Green Growth Platform in collaboration with Macedonian Chambers of Commerce organized a stakeholders’ event on the 11^th of April 2023. Ploutos project goals and the social, economic and environmental benefits of the SIP9 FoodSHare platform for redistribution of surplus food were presented in front of members from different chambers, agro-business sector (producers, distributors, retailers), and representatives from the universities. The president, Mr. Trajan Angeloski and all vice-presidents from the Macedonian Chambers of Commerce expressed their support for the project activities in North Macedonia.

FoodSHare web platform facilitates the process of donating surplus food, efficiently connecting food donors with humanitarian organizations.

The FoodSHare milestones and results were highlighted with proactive engagment from the participants.  The important issues of excess food, food loss and food waste were initiated, sparking valuable discussions and insights. The need of tax incentives and adequate regulation for food donations were especially pointed with a joint agreement that a systematic approach to properly manage these issues in the country is very important. Participants demonstrated active interest for the project activities, sharing their views and providing thoughtful pointers for future reference and involvement.

The event served as a platform for networking, collaboration, knowledge sharing, and disseminating results with key stakeholders from the agro-food sector, policy makers, researchers and other organizations, thus increasing the impact of the Ploutos project.

BioRural project had an exclusive opportunity to be promoted on the 24^th International Bjelovar Spring Fair that was held from 24-26 of March 2023 in the well-known Gudovac fair area, Croatia.

More than 400 exhibitors from eleven countries on an area of ten hectares presented their products and services in front of 30 000 visitors. Bjelovar Spring Fair is the largest fair for agricultural, business, trades and crafts fair with international character. It is a multi-purpose fair, especially known for agricultural machinery and preparation for sowing (seeds, crop sprays, fertilizers). This is the place where farmers can buy necessary seeds, protective agents, and machinery, but also the venue of numerous conferences, round-table talks, lectures and presentations in the field of economy and agriculture.

This year North Macedonia for the first time was a partner country. It was presented by six exhibitors mainly in the food section, but also with cultural and tourism program. Official representatives from North Macedonia also participated in the fair and held bilateral meetings with Croatia partners focused on enhancing the trade exchange and discussing about possibilities for efficient use of EU funds for further investments in agriculture and rural development.

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Bjelovar Fair is a member of EURASCO – agricultural association that brings together the largest agricultural fairs in Europe.

More info: https://bj-sajam.hr/program-24-proljetnog-medunarodnog-bjelovarskog-sajma/

– PoliRural results and sustainability

As PoliRural draws to a close, it must grapple with one of the most difficult questions in EU projects: how to ensure long-term sustainability? There are different ways to define sustainability. We see it as post-project existence of PoliRural ideas, deliverables and know-how that immediate beneficiaries and the wider public use to achieve their goals. Some of them can be commercial, some policy related. Some may be technical, some scientific or societal. The nature of the exploitation is not so important. What matters is that results are continuously exploited by stakeholders for their own benefit, to help others, or both.

PoliRural’s main results are:

• A network of 500 stakeholders that have provided strong participatory foundation to the innovative foresight framework piloted in 12 regions;
• A foresight package outlining, for each region 1) a vision, 2) a set of measures that need to be implemented to make rural areas stronger, resilient, better connected, and prosperous, and 3) a roadmap for implementing these measures;
• A suitе of technical tools designed to support regional pilots with different foresight tasks e.g. exploring the impact of proposed measures on regional performance (Policy Options Explorer) and rural attractiveness (Rural Attractiveness Explorer), creating summaries of reading lists and extracting insightful information from them e.g. context, emotions (Semantic Explorer);
• A collection of reports, guidance documents and methodological notes that capture results of our work, as well as recommendations for others looking to implement regional foresight in a new geographic/thematic context.

– The results of the ex-durante report show benefit both for the planning process and pilots’ teams

The main task of the ex-durante evaluation was to document the progress made, review the involvement of primary stakeholders, and identify the first indications of intervention effects.

Ex-durante evaluation has provided each pilot with a closer, more critical in-depth look at their Action Plans. It has significantly benefited them, contributing to the quality of their proposed Action Plans and the PoliRural project in general.

Outstanding conclusions:

• The involvement of key decision-makers in the monitoring mechanisms of the Action Plan is seen as an essential precondition for securing the adoption and successful implementation of Action Plans by several pilot regions;
• Russian war in Ukraine and its consequences on energy, economy, environmental and social processes has been a new and very influential external factor that pilot regions faced during the reporting period. It has served as a valuable lesson demonstrating how quickly situations may change and that every plan shall be able to adapt and adjust its measures;
• The results of ex-durante evaluations confirm the positive effects of the evaluation process for the pilot teams. The most considerable effect is related to the analysis of stakeholder engagement, ownership, and capacity gains. Pilots have continued active communication with regional stakeholders involving them in discussions and experiments using tools developed by the PoliRural project. This has resulted in further improved Action Plans, new insights, the increased status of pilot organizations, and capacity gains among the pilot teams.

You can read more about PoliRural project final results on the following LINK.

12 Regional Action Plans resulting from PoliRural H2020 project.

The purpose of the Gevgelija-Strumica Regional Action Plan (RAP) is to foster rural attractiveness by improving the capacity and the model of the rural extension, as well as trough creating and implementing improved and new policy solutions dedicated to the young population in rural areas.

Find out more about the policy challenges, policy measures, intervention logic, contribution to key missions of EU, monitoring mechanism and roadmap in the Gevgelija-Strumica RAP.

The Ex-durante evaluation for Pilot 11 Gevgelija –Strumica was conducted by the two partner organizations in North Macedonia, AGFT, as pilot leader and GGP, as pilot partner in PoliRural H2020 project. The main focus of the Ex-durante evaluation process is the final version of the Regional Action plan (RAP) for Pilot 11 and the readiness for implementation.

Ex-durante evaluation results and recommendations are available in the Ex-durante evaluation report NMK Pilot 11.

Rural areas are under pressure. Despite being home to more than a quarter of Europe’s population and providing more than one fifth of all EU jobs, the old-fashioned image of the rural idyll is seemingly no longer valid. Over the past twenty-five years, rural regions have experienced a rapidly shrinking population as people, especially young adults, have migrated to cities with the lure of better paid jobs, modern affordable homes and more exciting lifestyles.

PoliRural is a H2020 research and innovation project designed to advance rural policy development in the age of disruptive data and technologies in order to deliver a trusted, scalable and transferable solution for policy co-creation. It brings together decision makers, experts and rural inhabitants using advanced policy simulation tools to better understand and tackle regional challenges, ultimately making rural areas and professions more attractive and livable for established populations and recent or potential newcomers.

Learn more about PoliRural project results:

https://polirural.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/D7.12.Toolbox.pdf

PoliRural Toolbox (D7.12.) presents PoliRural main concept, objectives, methodology and pilots where this methodology is being tested. It also presents PoliRural main topics and tools:

•Action oriented foresight for rural planning
•Semantic Explorer: a Text Mining tool for Smart Research
•System Dynamics Modelling for enhanced rural planning
•Mission oriented regional development: opportunities and challenges