Consultative meeting "Improving CSOs cooperation with public institutions in sustainable rural development"

On April 28th, 2017, a consultative meeting was held in Sremska Mitrovica on the following topics:

- Improving farmers 'information, as well as improving the decision makers and small producers' dialogue regarding the establishment of adequate procedures for the sale of traditional products

- Advocating better support of local self-governments for rural tourism development and linking service providers with promoters of tourism

The meeting was attended by representatives of local institutions, CSOs, as well as local residents interested in the topic. The meeting was organized within the framework of the project "ALTER - Active Local Territories for Economic Development of Rural Areas" funded by the European Union, as part of the activities "Improving CSO cooperation with public institutions in sustainable rural development". The project is implemented at the national level by the Network for rural development of Serbia.

The main problems discussed at the meeting were:

•    Non-incentive institutional framework - overly stringent regulations, too much paperwork, poor flow of information to farmers and expert support related primarily to planning the development and use of available measures,
•    Inability to directly sell certain products of small local producers due to over-complicated regulations,
•    Poor accommodation offer,
•    Weak tourism engagement of rural tourism service providers.

The following suggestions of potential solutions were highlighted in the participants' immediate conversation:

•    To regulate with law and permit the sale of small packages of traditional souvenir products,
•    Small producers law - direct sale of farm products,
•    The Ministry of economy, the Ministry of tourism and the Development agencies should stimulate and give more credit to investors who apply for some assistance and funds if they make the investment in rural areas,
•    Territorial organization - giving specific authority to regions.