Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food hosted 20 stakeholders from 7 European countries on the February 13th 2019 in their premises in Ljubljana.
In cooperation with the Regional Development Agency Gorenjska, BSC, Ltd, Kranj, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food organized a meeting with the aim of presenting Rural development programme 2014-2020, specifically measure 16: Cooperation, to which 20M EUR are dedicated.
The delegation of stakeholders from Greece, Italy, Latvia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia was greeted by Simona Vrevc, Deputy Director – General of Agriculture Directorate and Vesna Miličić, the representative of EIP Vem point (info point), who also presented the Rural Development Plan 2014-2020 (RDP 2014-2020) and Measure 16, specifically European Innovation Partnership (EIP).
The meeting also gave the opportunity to the members of the delegation to represent the state of play in terms of measures for cooperation and EIP in their countries.
The RDP 2014-2020 funds action under five out of six Rural Development Priorities:
1. Knowledge transfer and innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas
2. Competitiveness of agri-sector and sustainable forestry
3. Food chain organisation, including processing and marketing of agricultural products and animal welfare
4. Restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems related to agriculture and forestry
5. Local development and job creation in rural areas
Measure M16 supports various forms of cooperation with which different actors in rural areas will be able to overcome economic, environmental and other constraints which they face due to fragmentation and lack of connection. The measure is particularly aimed at promoting cooperation projects aimed at greater productivity and better sustainability in agriculture. Special emphasis is put on promoting technological development and reducing the negative impacts of agriculture on the environment, particularly in the field of biodiversity and the quality of surface water and groundwater.
Operational groups of the EIP are founded by interested entities, such as farmers, researchers, advisers, enterprises, non-governmental organisations and other participants that operate in the agricultural and food sector with the purpose of filling the gaps between research and agricultural practice by stimulating the more rapid and extensive use of innovative solutions – innovations – in practice.
The international meeting was organized within the project INNOGROW, "Regional policy for innovation-driven competitiveness and growth of rural SMEs", co-financed by the European funds of the Interreg Europe program. The total value of the project is EUR 1,574,322, bringing together partners from Greece, Italy, Latvia, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia.
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