Local economy development in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on V4 experiences
Four partner organizations implement a local product project in Bosnia and Herzegovina which consists of three parts:
– a 5 days seminar for future local producers from Tuzla Canton;
– organizing a study tour in Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic for the seminar participants and for a few experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina;
– promoting the local product theme in Bosnia and Herzegovina, transfering project experience to others (officials of public bodies, experts, NGOs) in the country.
Goals:
– Giving for future local producers such theoretical and practical knowledge, what can be a basis for starting production of local products and also for successful sales.
– To draw attention to the local product theme in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Target groups:
– Future local producers from the Tuzla Canton (ca. 25 participants);
– Relevant decision makers of public bodies, experts, NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Project background
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in Tuzla Canton, the unemloyment rate is high. In 2019 the number of people being employed in Tuzla Canton amounted to 99,962 persons, while 78,928 people were out of job amounting to 44% of the total workforce, mostly women and young people. There are potentials for tourism development in TC area. These are Tuzla, with the formed complex of salt lakes, Lake Modrac and the protected area of the mountain Konjuh. Women in the region are mostly housewives and have very few opportunities to find work and earn their living. Starting the production and sale of typical local products would be very important for the female population, because in their environment they could connect, produce and sell products traditionally produced from raw materials. It would also be a preparation for local tourism services in this area.
The V4-partners (Magosfa, CEA, SEVER) have been dealing with sustainable regional development, including the survey and promotion of local products. For example Magosfa organized local product fairs, festivals, professional gatherings, installed outdoor product boards and published publications. Between 2015-2018, the V4-partners participated together in an Erasmus+-project. Its aim was to develop and implement adult education modules in 3 topics in order to achieve sustainable rural development. Magosfa was in charge of the development of the local economy and the production of local product modules. They developed a training module and tested it in a series of seminars and study trips.
This project in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be partly based on the former Erasmus+ application though the V4-partners plan to reshape it to local conditions.
Project partners:
1. Magosfa Környezeti Nevelési és Ökoturisztikai Alapítvány (Magosfa Foundation for Environmental Education and Ecotourism)
Hungary, Vác, coordinator, Visegrad4 partner
2. Centar za Ekologiju i Energiju (Center for Ecology and Energy)
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tuzla, West Balkan partner
3. Centrum environmentálnych aktivít (Center of Environmental Activities)
Slovakia, Trenčín, Visegrad4 partner
4. Středisko ekologické výchovy SEVER Horní Maršov, o.p.s. (SEVER – The Rýchory Centre of Environmental Education and Ethics)
Czech Republic, Horní Maršov, Visegrad4 partner
https://sever.ekologickavychova.cz/
Financial background
The project is financially supported by the International Visegrad Fund.
Project implementation:
Hungarian press release at the beginning: https://www.magosfa.hu/helyi-termelok-kepzese-bosznia-es-hercegovinaban/
Local product seminar in Tuzla Canton
We organized a 5-day seminar for 25 local producers in 2 rounds. The first round lasted from 22 to 24 of April 2022. and the second took place on 14-15 of May.
Method Even though most of the seminar days built on presentations, the lecturers aim to illustrate their message with charts, images and videos. In order to motivate a dialogue with the audience, participants were allowed to interrupt at any time if they had reflection or proposal. Lecturers often asked participants and tried to encourage joint thinking. Moreover, lecturers gave playful tasks and resort to teamwork. With teamworking we had multiple aims: firstly, broadening knowledge of team-members through cooperation. Secondly, it was important to motivate for more networking and cooperation, the elaboration of project-parts and community-building. The aim of the fieldtrip was to acquire theoretical and practical experience from regional sources, familiarizing with the best practice and also building networks, founding future cooperation. The exact theme was compiled by the application partners, it is based on the local product module previously developed in the Erasmus + project of the V4 partners, while taking into account local needs, conditions and experiences.
This was the theme: Day 1. Goals: – theoretical knowledge about food systems; – definition of “short supply chain”; – specifications of local products; – local product initiatives and projects in the area; and – motivation (there are projects to link to). Main topic: short supply chain Day 2. Goals: Awareness of – consumption trends; – possibilities of investigation of consumers’ demands (in their surroundings, with simple methods); and – possibilities of handling consumers’ complaints. Main topic: Consumers, market environments, feedback Day 3. The field trip in the Tuzla region. Aim: to show practical examples for the participants by taking them to local producers gaining motivation and practical knowledge. We were aiming at community-building as well, getting to know each other to encourage future network-building. Day 4. Goals: – increasing marketing knowledge, especially hard or continuously changing topics like pricing. – ability to make a draft for marketing for their own product (by practical tasks) Main topic: marketing knowledge Day 5. Goals: – food hygienic knowledge; – two-sided communication with local producers, experts; – exchanging experiences, good practices; and Main topic: food hygienic, local product forum.
Local TV reported about the seminar (from 17:56 min.):
Study tour in Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic
The partners organized for the seminar participants and few experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina a study tour in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic between 6th June and 11th June 2022. The study tour lasted for 6 days (including travelling), the programs were in Vác region and Budapest (Hungary), Trenčín region (Slovakia) and around Hostětín (Czech Republic).
Here you see a Facebook-post by Centar za Ekologiju i Energiju
Thematic meeting in Tuzla
Centar za Ekologiju i Energiju (Center for Ecology and Energy) organized a thematic meeting for officials of public bodies, experts and NGOs in Tuzla on 21st of June 2022. There were two press appearance about the meeting:
(Video) Održan okrugli sto o pokretanju porizvodnje i prodaji lokalnih proizvoda
https://www.federalna.ba/podizanje-svijesti-stanovnika-tk-a-o-lokalnim-proizvodima-phuei
Hungarian press release at the end of the project: https://www.magosfa.hu/sikeresen-zarult-helyi-termekes-projektunk-bosznia-es-hercegovinaban/