ESSEDRA

The Kinookus Association is one of the partners in the ESSEDRA (Environmentally Sustainable Socio-economic Development of Rural Areas) project, led by Slow Food International and financed by the European Comission.The project will support the process of European integrations through strengthening and giving visibility to  organizations and associations in Turkey and the Balkans involved in sustainable development of rural areas as well as in ecological agriculture. Partners from Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Italy, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, UK and Croatia will try to speed up the application of European policies in the areas of environmental protection concerning preservation, prevention and mitigation of the consequences of climate changes and sustainable development of local communities.

The overall objective of the project is to support the EU integration process by strengthening the capacity of and giving voice and visibility to CSOs in the Balkans and Turkey working in the fields of agriculture, rural development and food quality thereby improving the delivery of Community objectives in these fields and in the protection of the environment, including biodiversity, prevention and mitigation of climate change and the sustainable well-being of local communities.

To achieve the above mentioned overall objective, the following specific objectives were defined:

- To strengthen the capacities of the CSO’s to provide analysis, strategic advocacy and monitoring of relevant policies related to the food system and the rural development;

- To participate in the public debate on sustainable rural development in the Balkans and Turkey and influence policy and decision making process;

- To promote better linkages between viable rural communities functioning and resilient local food system, sustainable use of the land and biodiversity conservation;

- To raise awareness among Balkans and Turkish citizens on the influence of public policies on their daily lives and on how they can effectively influence the policy formulation and implementation processes.