Like everywhere in the world, also the RUMORE project has seen considerable changes in its implementation over the course of 2020. The relevance of projects as well as the certainty about how we do things have changed. New ways of doing things emerge. Other values are sometimes more important than before, and personal relations are even more important than earlier. And besides all negative impacts of the pandemic situation, also fruitful changes happen and give sense, although these aspects are not easy to see sometimes when severe societal, economic and health-related consequences determine the picture.
We are glad that our RUMORE partners have found ways of adapting to the situation – after and despite the shakeup induced by COVID-19. Unfortunately, several elements of the action plans in the partner regions had to be postponed or adapted due to the pandemic, e.g. because staff of organisations was assigned to special crisis units. But constructive work has led the partners to advancing their actions and starting into the final project year and paving the way to achieving good results. For example:
- In Bulgaria the establishment of the “Black Sea Center for blue growth and innovations” was sealed on 9th of October 2020 with signing a contract for the project in an online ceremony
- In the Netherlands, the partner Green Knowledge Portal Twente further transforms the network Green Metropolis Twente (GMT) into an innovation platform for regional challenges like circular agribusiness, sustainable energy, biodiversity, liveability, activities
- In Lombardy Region/IT, the “Agro creative matches” as networking action between creative & cultural enterprises and agricultural entrepreneurs has produced lovely results: Three cooperation projects from these matches were approved and are now funded by the Innovation priority of the ERDF ROP Lombardy Region
- The City of Amsterdam Amsterdam/NL further developed the “Regional alliance short food chains“ with the goal to ensure a vital, sustainable, circular and social food landscape in the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam
- In Central Macedonia/GR the pilot action “Digital Innovation Hub in the Agri-Food sector” has started and is implemented until autumn 2021
Besides to this project-related progress…
…the RUMORE consortium wishes a Merry Christmas and that the new year 2021 and the years after will make it possible for us to embrace the positive aspects of these changes. And that you value even more the personal relations you have, be it in work, friends or family…
Image by Diana Parkhouse from Pixabay
