ROMANIAN BULGARIAN ORGANIC - ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORK
Implemented between April 2017 and October 2018, the project aimed encouraging the entrepreneurial activity among people from the crossborder area Constanţa-Dobrich, especially those interested in the production of ecological foods, delivering and promoting them, thus offering the possibility of a niche to be developed and to support a sustainable economy.

The main objective of the project was to consolidate the crossborder partnership and contacts by building a network of entrepreneurs in the ecological production and markets field. To be more precise, the project targeted:

1. Creating work conditions in the organic field, through trainings and seminars regarding ecological production, certification and marketing.

2. Improving the knowledge regarding ecological food and production, as a starting point for the development of ecological economy in the crossborder area.

3. Creating the setting for interaction and partnership with training organizations and schools in the field of organic entrepreneurship.

4. Raising the attractiveness of the region by organizing festivals and the international market “Gifts from nature”, between Constanţa and Dobrich.

In order to apply the objectives of the project, a series of activities were implemented that helped the producers of bio foods from Constanţa and also Dobrich region. Among the activities were:

·         A marketing research regarding ecological foods. The questionnaire was applied in Dobrigh region (200 questionnaires) and Constanţa (200 questionnaires) amongst the target groups. Based on this analysis was elaborated the general development strategy for the Romanian Bulgarian Organic-Entrepreneurial Network.

·         3 training modules dedicated to organic entrepreneurship were implemented: „The nature of ecological foods and European legislation”, „Create a business with organic food products” and „Marketing”.

·         A virtual workshop dedicated to the presentation of the general strategy for the development of the „Romanian Bulgarian Organic-Entrepreneurial Network” and the web portal „Nature-friendly crossborder entrepreneurs”.

Also, the participants had the opportunity to discover organic food products and to get acquainted with the good practices in Constanţa and Dobrich regions, through visits at bio farms and through 2 dedicated events, a festival in Dobrich and one in Constanţa, where more than 20 local producers had the chance to display their production. These events offered participants the opportunity to exchange experiences and establish partnerships.

In the framework of the project, there was also created the web portal “Nature-friendly crossborder entrepreneurs” that includes general rules for ecological foods, the „RBOEN” strategy, opportunities for start-ups, green franchise, human resources – information for job applicants and a virtual market where producers can keep in touch with consumers and be updated on the project results. For more details, follow this link.