YouCooperate international study visits in November

At the end of November, three international online study visits took place within the YouCooperate project.

Initially, it was planned to organize in-person visits for young people to cooperatives in Latvia and – for young people who have developed the best business plans – a visit to Italian cooperatives. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the related restrictions, it was decided to organize the visit to Italy online. The online format also has its advantages – it provided an opportunity to meet many more young people, as well as to include representatives of cooperatives and other related organizations not only from Italy, but also from the other project partner member states. In order to make the content of the meetings accessible to absolutely all interested parties, the events were translated into all local languages.

November 25th The three-hour meeting was mostly made up of inspiring stories from Agricultural Cooperatives. At the beginning of the event, its leader Bozura Fidanska, representing the National Union of Small Family Farmers and Producers (Bulgaria), introduced herself, the project and gave the floor to the project partners.

After the introduction, Florin Gavriluts spoke about the activities of the Krasna Valley cooperatives in Romania. Farmers in Romania have united to reduce operating costs, diversify their production, promote growth and make the products more accessible to buyers. Farmers in this cooperative have also set up their own store, where local products are available. Florin himself studied agriculture and is currently engaged in fruit growing and beekeeping. He appreciated the opportunity to cooperate with young people and representatives of cooperatives from other countries. The representative of the cooperative pointed out that it is not always easy to involve young farmers in the activities of the cooperative, because people do not want to trust each other at first. Additional challenges are the seasonality of production, as well as the fact that farmers in this region of Romania do not yet plan their activities sufficiently. When asked how he started the cooperative, Florin emphasized the importance of patience – everything was done gradually, thorough explanatory work will be carried out.

The next speaker at the event was Rolands Feldmanis, a representative of the Latvian Agricultural Cooperative Association (LLKA), “Success Factors in Establishing a Cooperative”. Rolands Feldmanis is a consultant to the LLKA and is experienced in the field of cooperatives, and he enthusiastically agreed to the call from the Farmers' Saeima to cooperate. In his presentation, the LLKA representative focused on the main success factors in establishing cooperatives. He emphasized that it is important to establish cooperatives in order to share experience and competences. In turn, leadership skills are very important in the operation of cooperatives, which are still in need of development.

After a break, Milena Milanova from Romania made a virtual visit to the event, who spoke about the development of Regional Youth Centers in this country. The presentation focused more on the project “Raising Youth”, which aims to include young people from different social groups in activities, thus creating opportunities for equal development. One of the areas of interest of young people is agriculture, and for the development of agricultural competencies, youth centers cooperate with agricultural non-governmental organizations.

At the end of the event, a short film about the Central Union of Cooperatives in Bulgaria, prepared by Vanja Boyuleva, was presented, focusing on both the goals and successes of the union. The Central Union of Cooperatives has been operating for almost 140 years and unites 180 thousand cooperative members and 6,000 employees.

The introductory presentation can be found at –.

The recording of the November 25th event (in the original language) can be found here. –.

The recording of the presentation by Latvian representative Rolands Feldmanis can be found here. –.

November 25th agenda available –.

November 26th The online study visit focused on the Italian experience with agricultural education and cooperatives.

In the first part of the event, Professor Alberto Grandi spoke about the educational model that the Italians have adopted. Within the framework of the projects, student learning cooperatives are established in Italy on a similar principle to student learning companies. The activities of such cooperatives include all phases of entrepreneurship, including production and sales. Thus, students gain a unique experience that is as close to real life as possible, and gain an idea of the skills and abilities necessary for cooperatives to operate. Alberto Grandi's presentation in English is available –.

Giovanni Pelegri spoke about the involvement of educational institutions in the Food Farm project, which operates according to the principle of work-based learning - young people are involved in the activities of agricultural production companies, learning from practical experience in a real environment. Giovanni Pelegri's presentation can be found at –.

In the second part of the event, we focused on the experiences of cooperatives. We listened to Andrea Nascimbeni's presentation about the dairy processing cooperative "4 Madonne Caseificio dell'Emilia". The cooperative was founded in 1967 and has experienced both successful years and earthquake-related losses. Currently, the cooperative has eight stores, 60 employees and produces approximately 100 thousand Parmesan cheese rolls per year (PRESENTATION).

we got acquainted with the experience of the CASA Mezola cooperative. This cooperative was also founded in the sixties of the last century. The cooperative unites vegetable and fruit growers and is engaged in product processing, as well as helping members with technical support and consultations. The cooperative presentation is available –.

At the end of the event, Davide Pieri presented cooperative activities in the Emilia-Romagna region (see –.)

The recording of the November 26 event in the original language is available –, but the agenda – –.

The series of international study visits concluded with an event on November 27th., which was made special by the young people themselves, who had taken a cooperative course on the website youcooperate.eu and developed business plans in teams.

Participation in the event was voluntary and the number of participants varied from country to country, but all the presentations were interesting. The teams showed their creativity and knowledge, as well as strengthened their presentation skills.

• The first Bulgarian team – four young women – talked about their plans for the marketing cooperative “Zlatna Gradjina”.
• The other Bulgarian team presented the ideas of the Pavikleni service cooperative.
• Representatives of the Third Bulgarian School spoke about the business plan of the Suvorovo Supply Cooperative.
• The first Romanian team – six young people – presented the business plan of the wine production cooperative “Dionysus” (presentation in the original language).
• The second Romanian team – seven young people – shared their ideas about the cooperative “Sweet Cherry”, which is intended to be engaged in the production and distribution of cherries and their processed products (Presentation of "Sweet Cherry").
• The third Romanian team briefly presented the business plan of a raspberry processing cooperative (presentation)
• One of the Italian teams presented a business plan for a sustainable and environmentally friendly grain farming cooperative “Kalvi” (presentation)
• The other Italian team talked about their ideas for a vinegar, wine and honey production cooperative called “Bobo Family” (presentation).
• Latvia was represented by Baiba Krista Konca, a second-year student at Vidzeme Technical School of Technology and Design. Baiba developed a business plan together with her classmates and with the support of her teacher Sarmīte Audere. The business plan “LAKS – Agricultural Plant Cooperative Society” plans to purchase and sell plant varieties and minerals to cooperative members. (presentation available –, but its entry – –).
• Hungary was also represented by one team – the young Ventsi with an extensive presentation about the cooperative "Together We Can Do More".

Partners from each country provided prizes for the young people in their country. In Latvia, all business plan developers received gift boxes with thermoses, notebooks and sweets, while brave Baiba's prize was complemented by a high-quality new board game.

The recording of the November 27th event is available. –, but the agenda is available for viewing –.