Rural Romania Newsletter 8/2022

MARD AND MRID WORKING GROUP TO SUPPORT AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS

On 24.08.2022, minister Petre Daea received the visit of minister Sebastian-Ioan Burduja, on the occasion of the working meeting with the team of specialists from the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization (MRID), regarding the creation of a partnership to contribute to the digitalization of Romanian agricultural high schools.

On this occasion, minister Daea presented the projects that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development wants to implement through agricultural high schools, so that a link is created between farmers, public administration, agricultural high schools, universities and scientific research in agriculture.

At the same time, was presented the project through which the ministry proposes to support the infrastructure of agricultural high schools and ensure the quality of the agricultural education, in addition to the funds already allocated for investments in the 2020-2022 period .

The project is included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan - component 15 of the National Program - Educated Romania and is to be implemented in the 2023 - 2026 period.

The 57 agricultural high schools will benefit from funds in the amount of 43.6 million euros, intended both for the development of the infrastructure and for increasing the quality of the agricultural educational act (drafting of specialized manuals in digital and modular format, training of specialized teaching staff, improvement of internship practice, mixed learning theory-practice-digitalization).

The digitization of high schools will be achieved through:

equipping one IT laboratory with electronic equipment for each of the 57 agricultural high schools;
the setting-up of a digital platform in order to streamline the collaboration/communication between the 57 agricultural high schools, specialized universities, agricultural economic agents, local and central public administration, agricultural research and to correlate the theoretical and practical training of students with the needs of the agricultural labor market .

For the creation of the digital platform, a collaboration protocol between MARD and MRID is to be concluded in order to increase the efficiency of the professional training of students, in relation to the requirements of the labor market.
More details here [RO].

ONLINE LEADER WORKSHOP

On 24 August, was held the Workshop for LEADER cooperation projects, online, organized by the LEADER National Network from the Republic of Moldova and LEADER Federation Romania.

The workshop was attended by LAGs from the Republic of Moldova and Romania, as well as representatives of the RDP Managing Authority, respectively from LEADER and the National Rural Development Network (NRDN) Units.

On this occasion, was announced the LEADER Conference to be held on 6-7 October 2022, organized by the National LEADER Network Moldova together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the PL Solidarity Fund of the Republic of Moldova. The main theme of the conference will be cooperation and related projects.

MA representatives communicated information both about the stage of implementation of submeasure 19.3 components A) and B), as well as about the support provided by NRN to Local Action Groups and LEADER implementation.

Within Component A - Preparatory technical assistance within Submeasure 19.3, 2 project submission sessions were launched in 2018 and 2019 with an allocation of 5.5 million euros.

Regarding component B - Implementation of cooperation activities of the selected LAGs, 3 submission sessions have been launched so far:

in 2019 – with an available allocation in the amount of 9.275 million euros,
in 2021 - with an available allocation in the amount of 10.310 million euros,
in 2022 - with an available allocation in the amount of 9.597 million euros (current session).

Beatrice Zaharescu - representative of the NRN Support Unit highlighted the role of NRN in LEADER cooperation which includes "supporting activities regarding the provision of training and networking for LAGs, technical assistance for inter-territorial and transnational cooperation, facilitating cooperation between LAGs".

NRN support is also achieved through training sessions, events, online-newsletter publications, collaboration with ENRD CP and other national rural networks on this topic.

The event created the framework to exchange experience and build-on future collaborations, as well as an analysis of the status of cooperation projects at the level of LAGs.

MASSIF COMMITTEES' MEETINGS CONTINUE

Mr. Aurel Simion - MARD state secretary, together with the management of the National Agency of the Mountain Area, organized, on 22 August 2022, an online meeting with the presidents and vice-presidents of the 9 massif committees.

The topics discussed during the meeting were:

Setting-up of specialized commissions within the massif committees;
Establishment of the National Mountain Council;
The organization of greening actions in 27 counties in the mountain area, on 14 September 2022, on the occasion of National Mountain Day;
Identification of existing problems at the level of each massif committee, in order to present them during the first meeting of the National Council of the Mountain.

At the same time, the presidents and vice-presidents of the 9 massif committees presented specific situations regarding the activity in the committees and all the support so that the established objectives are carried out.

TRAIANUS OPTIMUS PRINCEPS FESTIVAL

Between 12-15 August 2022, in Alba Iulia, was held the Romanian reenactment festival - Traianus Optimus Princeps.

Reenactment involves recreating a historical event or a period, as faithfully as possible, and the festival in Alba Iulia was a good opportunity to recreate the way of life 2,000 years ago in ancient Apulum.

During the festival, the public could witness military demonstrations, battles between Dacians and Romans, night torchlight parades, slave fairs, ancient-inspired dances, craft and gastronomy workshops, all of which brought a long-dead world back to life.

Thus, during four spectacular days of the festival, in the ancient camp ocurred bone and wood processing, pottery, minting, painting, ancient medicine, blacksmithing workshops , among others, to the delight of thousands of tourists.

BLACK TRUFFLES FESTIVAL

Between 6-7 August, in Pârteștii de Jos - Suceava county, was held the Truffle Festival. The festival is at its second edition and is a mix of tradition and new, usual and unusual, nature and technology, promoting black truffles as a product and local tourist potential.
More details about the festival, here and here.

16th NATIONAL CONFERENCE "Current problems in mountain research"

During 04–05 August 2022, the Mountain Economy Center (CEMONT) of the Romanian Academy in Vatra Dornei, Suceava county, held the XVI national, scientific and informative conference "Current problems in mountain research".

The event was organized by CEMONT Vatra Dornei, in collaboration with the National Agency of the Mountain Area, the National Research and Development Institute for Biology and Animal Nutrition (INCDBNA-IBNA) Balotești, the Romanian Mountain Forum and the National Association for Mountain Rural Development "Romontana" .

The event took place in hybrid format: at the headquarters of the Mountain Economy Center in Vatra Dornei, approximately 40 people, and with online participation approximately 30 people.

Topics addressed:

The mountain product - a model for supporting the added value of products made by farmers in the mountain area, for the purpose of the sustainable development of mountain agricultural holdings";
Reducing the carbon footprint (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) from agro-livestock productions in the mountain area: "Research on improving the productive efficiency of cattle, sheep, goats, swine and poultry, by reducing the total annual emissions of greenhouse gases, expressed in tons of CO2 equivalent".

More information can be found here.