After the project started, the first step has been to organize ourselves internally and to recruit people to work on this project, which is a very challenging and stimulating one.
Following that, different events have been organized, in order to build a group of stakeholders and to generate interest around the project thematic and objectives:
On the 3rd of July, the first meeting of the stakeholders took place, to broadly present the project and the part they will be taking in it. A second meeting, on the 26th of November, was the occasion to define how we will collaborate on this project and achieve the expected results for the region.
Additionally, an internal meeting was gathered on the 28th of November with some Directors and elected representatives of the Regional Council to present the project and reinforce their adhesion to its strategic objectives and ensure that the adequate means will be dedicated to the implementation of the project.
To plant the seeds for future dissemination of the results, and to further showcase the project to economic actors on the territory, the REGIONS4FOOD project was also presented during a meeting organised by the Regional Council’s department for European affairs, which gathered members from the Pays de la Loire “Hub Europe” (which includes some members of the project’s stakeholders group as well). The meeting took place on the 27th of November.
Finally, the project was presented to the members of Ligeriaa, the regional association of agri-food enterprises, within their “Collaborative digital” committee. The presentation was given by one of our stakeholders, the CAP Aliment association.
What’s next?
We are now working on a special page on the Regional Council website in order to update our followers with news and events concerning the project. We are also working on an article to be included the regional newsletter, sent to over 5000 people.
We are also starting our preparations to host the project’s next partners’ meeting (steering committee) in Pays de la Loire in May; this event will be organised within the “Innovation Spring”, a regional label for events promoting innovation, to give it a wider visibility and reach more local actors. In addition, some workshops and a study visit will take place on this occasion.
