Preserving/revitalizing rural areas

Description

Through my role as an expert advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture and courses that we teach, I am very closely related and aware of all the hardships that befall rural areas. Depopulation of rural areas leads to the loss of food production potential and the self-sufficiency. There is also immeasurable damage from the loss of traditional heritage and knowledge, skills and uniqueness of a certain area. As the Croatian project manager and participant in several EU Horizon projects on the topic of rural areas through workshops, Living Labs and overall experience from advisory work, I detected one key factor in preserving or even revitalizing rural areas is the position of women in rural areas.  So we conclude that this topic of comprehensive inclusion of women in rural life is of exceptional importance.

Our efforts are directed towards the position of women in rural areas. Our activities go in two directions, to analyse and understand the problems, as well as in the direction of quick implementation of simple solutions. Currently through courses of various practical productions and processing skills as well as various entrepreneurship courses, we are trying to strengthen rural communities with the experience and knowledge we have gathered over the years working in that area and offer know-how for various rural activities. The role of women in rural areas has never been at a satisfactory level, but in the past, women had opportunities to connect through various common female activities that disappeared with the introduction of machines and mechanization (harvesting, plucking feathers, washing clothes, making clothes and shoes, etc.). All these activities were tiring and required knowledge and skills, so they quickly disappeared with the arrival of machines and mechanization. However, by making life easier for women in one segment, it also caused a loss of connection (networking) between women. The goal is to show what is possible to produce from one's own resources, food and non-food, as well as what was the cultural value of a region. We encourage farm diversification through processing of agricultural and non-agricultural products on farms and revitalization of traditional crafts and skills: processing and finishing of agricultural products into products of higher value, making clothing and souvenirs.  The course for women entrepreneurs in rural areas provides a type of short education for adults that teaches women to start their entrepreneurial story with fewer unknowns. We also encourage associations and individuals to get involved in the preservation and revival of cultural traditional values ​​(traditional songs and dances) through organizing and connecting with existing organizations of this type. Also, in addition to courses and demonstrations, agricultural advisors in Croatia are in constant contact and provide support to farmers, and not only in the agricultural sector. We want to introduce interested farmers to a way of expressing their needs for creation, creativity, and usefulness through the production of resources and the preservation of tradition, as well as connecting with others who have the same interest. All our courses are interactive and are partly subsidised by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

Commitment's information

Stakeholder beneficiary(ies)

Activities

Expected Outcomes

Our objectives:

Strengthening the role of women in the comprehensive life of rural communities is the main goal of our activities. 

Another equally important goal is to connect women with each other within rural environments "networking" 

Main results

Number of people

20000

Final results

Since our resources, although not small, are still limited given the nature of the problem, we would at least like each of our young farmers who inherited a farm or started a farm on their own to have the information and opportunity to further learn and develop their rural life skills.

Organisation/Company information