Building up workshop - Čakovec

WORKSHOP
STRENGTHENING THE REGIONAL INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY WITH ESTABLISHMENT OF SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS

Čakovec, Međimurje County
Subject: INVITATION to the Workshop

We are pleased to invite you to the workshop "Strengthening the regional institutional capacity with establishment of short food supply chains" which will take place on November 2, 2017 starting at 11 o’clock. The workshop will be held in Technology-information center Međimurje, Bana Josipa Jelačića 22b, 40 000 Čakovec, Multimedia hall (former barracks).

The workshop is intended for representatives of local and regional government, county institutions, local action groups, advisory services, farmer associations and individual farmers.

The fundamental market and economic principles are telling us that sustainable agriculture development is not possible without associated farmers. Regarding this fact, even the greatest effort of small and medium sized producers cannot ensure long-term development and security, unless there is an economic system that unites them, organizes joint performance and sale of their products on the local market. This time we are not talking about co-operatives but about short food supply chains (SFSC). The main function of SFSC's is to connect small scaled agricultural producers and to place their highest quality products with maximum one intermediary within the area of 50 km from the place of production. Local government and institutions should therefore initiate and facilitate this processes of collaboration among the farmers in the form of SFSC which can establish realistic conditions for the long-term development of their competitiveness.

Such types of joint collaborations represent important factors for local development and enable strong economic impact because:

• They relieve a pressure on the local budget,
• They increase the overall economic activity, employment and competitiveness of the local community,
• They increase a living standard in the community.

WORKSHOP AGENDA:

• 10.45 - 11.00 Registration
• 11.00 - 11.10 Introduction speech
• ----Sandra Polanec Marinović, Director of REDEA
• ----Matija Posavec, County Prefect of Međimurje County
• 11.10 - 11.25 Introduction to the AgriShort project and short food supply chains, project manager Valentina Hažić and the member of EIP-AGRI focus group on “Innovative Short Supply Chain Management”
• 11.25 - 11.50 Establishment of Local Food Production Systems and Short Food Supply Chains in Croatia, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Krešimir Ivančić
• 11.50 – 12.15 Results of Research and Recommendations for Establishing Short Food Supply Chains in the area of Koprivnica -Križevci and Međimurje county, Dr. sc. Kristina Svržnjak, Križevci College of Agriculture
• 12.15 - 13.15 Practical part of the workshop - I. part: The socio-economic effects of short food supply chains in the European Union, Dr. Moya Kneafsey
• LUNCH (30 min)
• 13.45 - 16.30 Practical part of the workshop - II. part: The socio-economic effects of short food supply chains in the European Union, Dr. Moya Kneafsey

Participation in workshop is FREE and due to the limited availability of seats, early registration is strongly recommended. Please fill out the online form at the following LINK or announce your participation by e-mail: mateja.mihalic@redea.hr until October 30, 2017 the latest.

ABOUT WORKSHOP LEADER:

Moya Kneafsey, Professor of Food and Local Development, Coventry University of England
With twenty years of experience in research and teaching, Moya specialises in territorial and community food systems, rural development and tourism. She has published 3 books, and over 50 journal papers and book chapters. She leads the research group on “Community Self-Organisation and Resilience” at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University. In 2013 she was lead author of the JRC report on the ‘State of Play of Local Food Systems and Short Food Chains in the EU’ and from 2104-15 she was Co-ordinating Expert of the EIP-AGRI focus group on innovative short food chain management. She is on the editorial board of the international journal Sustainability, and is currently supervising six PhD students working on various aspects of sustainable food chains.

WORKSHOP ORGANIZER:
Regional Development Agency Međimurje REDEA ltd.