European Village

In response to the problem of general lack of information among the rural population about the EU and the fact that farmers are social group with potentially highest percent of EU skeptics in Serbia, EMinS initiated a project "European village".

EMinS has created a project European Village with the following main goals:

• To give the opportunity to young farmers to meet economy, cities, people and culture of one EU member state;
• To raise awareness about EU agriculture policy;
• To raise awareness of young people especially in rural areas, that there is future for agricultural activities and life on farms. This project will strongly promote education as beneficial and necessary for successful living;
• Young farmers could present Europe and European idea competently to those in their surrounding as special European Ambassadors;

Activities

The project European Village is designed for young farmers in Serbia. The idea is to organize seven days long journey/study trip to Poland for 20 participants -winners on the contest. The contest is open for those younger than 35 who are living and working on their agricultural farms and who are dealing with husbandry, cattle raising, truck farming, poultry raising, fruit growing, wine growing, and small entrepreneurship (aimed exclusively on agricultural production). It will include all farms qualified as individual farms i.e. those which are private properties of min 1000 square meters or with minimum number of cattle, poultry or bees.

Participants will be selected by public contest which will be announced on EMinS web page as well as local newspapers and a number of TV stations. The priority will be given to those who have never traveled abroad.

After the successful selection, EMinS will organize one day preparatory seminar for the selected farmers

Foundation of Assistance Programs for Agriculture (FAPA) is partner organization from Poland which will cooperate with European Movement in Serbia on the implementation of the project European Village. FAPA will design and organize the seminar in Warsaw and study visit to several rural areas.

Special emphasis of this visit will be given to environment protection, i.e. agro ecology. During their visit to Poland participants will have the opportunities to met experts in the field of agro ecology who will present the effects of wide pollution (global warming, desertification, saltation, sour rains, global climate changes) on agricultural processes and technologies and vice versa.