New innovative services in the rural area of Centru Region through the support of a LAG

By project ORIGINN

Published on 29 August 2023

Romania

Centru

Vacaresti

About this good practice

This local action group was established with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the public and the private sector in the rural areas of Hraghita county & help local actors to valorise the potential of their areas, through innovation and sustainability. The idea was to develop and implement an integrated strategy for rural development, having as starting point the local needs and the potential endogenous of the territory. The interest of the civil society was to encourage innovation and modernization of traditional forms of know-how and to identify new solutions to their problems, as well as supporting the balanced exploitation of the local resources.

The area of „Csík” LAG is a traditional rural area, composed of 22 villages and 2 small cities, where agri-food is an important economic sector, especially from employment point of view. The LAG’s portfolio include 80 financed projects. Among the beneficiaries of the projects funded, was an innovative vermiculture farm which uses compost to produce bio humus.The added value of this project was the training provided and the activities related to raising awareness of the benefits of bio humus (being in a rural area where using manure is a common practice, and using chemicals is also widespread). The young farmer started to promote its product within flowers shops and through various informal ways. He also identified the need for training in the field of marketing to ensure better services and better promoted products.

Resources needed

The project “Innovative vermiculture farm” received a funding of EUR 8.649, of which EUR 6 054 represents non-reimbursable funds and EUR 2 595 beneficiary’s own contribution. The project was financed through the local development strategy of the Local Action Group „Csík” 2014-2020.

Evidence of success

The beneficiary purchased a high-performance soil screening machine which made his work much easier. This efficiency of the production process significantly increased. "It can't even be compared to how much it made my work easier. Until now I had to do all this by hand, now I can finish a much larger amount in a much shorter time.” - said the beneficiary. The hummus produced by valorising local resources in the area is now sold within a local flower shop in Miercurea Ciuc.

Potential for learning or transfer

This project promoted civic engagement and showed the importance of awareness in rural areas. Volunteering plays a key role in strengthening the self-reliance and social capital of small rural communities.

Also the LAGs members mobilized themselves to promote engagement among five volunteer coordinators and mobilized civic engagement across villages in the area. Local associations and initiatives, as well as the volunteers themselves, also benefited from opportunities to exchange experiences and access additional training.