Rural Networking – does it get any more exciting?

Policy networks are increasingly important in rural development where it is recognized that the success of any rural development policy is not only based upon the delivery of adequate funding [...], but also depends upon the fostering of good ideas and the sharing of experiences. 

Digitization in Romanian Agriculture

A clear 2030 digital agenda is now emerging whereby the European Commission and major farming organisations are convinced that a long-term policy perspective focused on digitization will attract more investment and more young people into agriculture, whilst contributing significantly to the resilience and sustainability of the sector.

Smart Villages: an idea whose time has finally come for Romania?

Smart Villages can be understood as “rural communities that refuse to wait for change to happen to them”. Such communities are made up of rural people who take the initiative to mobilise themselves [...] for improving their quality of life and standard of living.

AGRILINK – Delivering Financial Advice for Varasti Cooperative Members

On November 28 - 29th 2018 Highclere Consulting, together with our financial consultant Mr Ion Dumitru, organized two Living Lab sessions with 32 members of the Cooperativa Agricolă Carrefour Vărăști in Giurgiu county.

AGRILINK – Living Lab – Second training in Leuven

The Romanian Living Lab’s case caught our colleagues’ attention as they were curious about the lack of public advisory engagement in fiscal support to small farmers. I referred again to the PRO AKIS study and my own recent research where it is shown the collapse of public advisory system [...]

SALSA Bistrița-Năsăud: Limited subsidies for small farmers

Although subsidies are welcome, they only provide the limit for the survival of small farmers, as they have said in Măgura Ilvei. Many said that without subsidies would not keep even a cow.
© Vlad Dumitrescu

AGRILINK – Carrfour Vărăști Cooperative will have its first Living Lab

In April 2018 I met with two farmers’ groups that were potential candidates for the Living Lab. Following these meetings, we had very long discussions about whether we could work with both, as we planned.

AGRILINK – Reconsidering our scope: Farmers’ groups evaluation

Coming back from the training in Leuven I took some time to think about what we learned and reconsider our aims and what resources are available.

AGRILINK – First Living Lab Team Training

The aim of the AgriLink Living Labs is to develop and test improved innovation support services with potential to stimulate the transition to more sustainable forms of agriculture. We assume that doing this in a Living Lab (real life) setting [...] leads to better results.
© Vlad Dumitrescu

AGRILINK – Challenges before launching the Living Lab

In the previous blog post I presented the research work I completed about Romanian advisory services, both public and private. Now for the context of the Romanian Living Lab, to reflect on challenges at the start of this adventure.