ABOUT THE NETWORK

The international network of the MAREA project is made up of selected institutions. Each brings with it a special feature that makes them so valuable for cooperation and collaboration in designing rural areas. It is a mixture of research and educational expertise and the elaboration of good practice over the past partial decades. Here is an overview of the project-supporting partner institutions:​

Starkmacher e.V. - Germany

Udruga za ekonomiju zajednistva (UEZ) - Croatia

Starkmacher e.V. (founded. 2006) is a non-profit organization of civil society, which is mainly active at grassroots level. The aim is to strengthen and empower people to respond positively to the lack of orientation, lack of opportunities for development, emerging frustration and increasing prospects. The focus of the activities is on projects in the fields of adult education, intercultural learning and youth work in different social and ethnic environments. Social inclusion projects, including integration into the labour market, represent a further focus of work. The target group is the most disadvantaged groups, such as young unemployed, early school dropouts, juvenile offenders and prison inmates.
Starker e.v. maintains close relations with local, Reg. & National Charities, other NGOs and relevant ministries, public authorities and private companies/SMEs. The organisation has access to international networks of friendly institutions and is now active throughout Europe, as well as in some countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The UEZ institution is very sensitive to issues such as poverty, social exclusion and new ways of doing business where profit is not the focus of business but people. UEZ feels connected to experts from a wide range of fields. However, the priority is to create an open space for dialogue between different sectors, institutions, movements, experts, religions, etc. Therefore, the UEZ is an ideal partner for MAREA, as it provides space for dialogue between smallholder farmers and extension agencies and communities and farmers' associations in rural areas. Together with the associated partners, UEZ combines theoretical instruction with practical training and thus directly supports farming households in rural areas. It places emphasis on researching and teaching of different methods of agriculture. In doing so, it actively involves the farms themselves but also, for example, government agencies. By creating and facilitating dialogue between the different actors, the project has a great impact on social integration, poverty reduction, environmental protection and educational work.
Veraterra supports organisations and schools in the areas of agroecology and rural development. They take care of the integral evolution of a territory, implementing projects of high relational, social and environmental value to bring about stable and lasting development.
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History of origins
The association was born in 2016, with the intention of spreading knowledge and values of ecological agriculture. Today they do so by supporting other NGOs working in international cooperation, and spreading these messages in schools through engaging and innovative educational formats.

What they do
International cooperation
Veraterra supports other NGOs in aspects of rural development, according to the evolving state of social, ecological and natural ecosystems, for stable and lasting development.

Educational formats in schools
To disseminate the potential of agroecology and ecosystems and their relationship with human organisations
​Since the creation of the research group Building Physics and Sustainable Design in 2008, the research was developed along 4 thematic areas:
  • Energy performance and indoor climate (SDG 7,13)
    Interaction building and HVAC systems – 0,+ energy buildings
  • Technology of renewable construction materials (SDG 12)
    Timber construction and use of organic fibres
  • Community scale sustainability & sustainable development (SDG 1,3,11)
    Social and ecological sustainability of buildings and communities
  • Methods for holistic design, construction and operation of high performance buildings
    • Circular, Bio-Based Construction Industry (SDG 9, 12)
    • Life cycle analysis (LCA) (SDG 12)
    • Building Information Modelling (BIM)
    • Commissioning, building management and monitoring
 
The research group has been active in the sectors of sustainable and circular construction on the levels of “urban and building physics” and sustainable material flows through its initiatives on an international “Learning networks for Sustainable neighbourhood (LNSN)”.
Relevant for its research is the socio-ecological approach that was developed to study and renovate buildings and neighbourhoods and strive for low energy consumption, the use of sustainable materials and constructions, assessment and certification. The research group is responsible for the roll out of different business models for collective, sustainable and affordable renovation of neighbourhoods.
The research unit is part of a strong consortium in both the Flemish as French community of Belgium with a wide spectrum of expertise related to green economy, value chains, sustainability, climate proofing , … built on the KLIMOS ACROPOLIS consortium.
Every year, KU Leuven organises the postgraduate course on human and environmentally friendly building and living.

County Governor of Vestland - Norway

The County Governor promotes business development and innovation in cooperation with other regional and local stakeholders. Regional and local assets and opportunities need to be nurtured and developed to ensure a solid economic base for the future. The role of the County Governor is also to contribute to a good exchange between agriculture and other sectors. Collaboration on county plans, business plans, farm holidays, tourism plans, development of food
food production and bioenergy programmes are central to this work.
The County Governor is responsible for developing and implementing regional business strategies for the agricultural sector. The County Governor administers grants for research and business development facilitation activities. This funding helps to boost food production, promote development and encourage the modernisation of traditional agriculture and development of other agriculture-based businesses. Measures relating to the development of organic farming can also be funded from it.​
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