On the 3rd of October 2019, the partners of the project REWARD met in Naklo, Slovenia to hold their 3rd transnational meeting hosted by the Biotehniski center Naklo. Each partner presented a selection of 5 case studies of women entrepreneurs in European rural areas and who also develop activities fostering rural development linked to cultural heritage. The types of cultural heritage involved in the case studies include agricultural landscape, social practices, traditional products, farming practices, craftmanship as well as oral traditions and expressions. These Case Studies will be used to create best practices as well help form the training modules for the final output of the project.
The following day included a visit to the family farm policarjeva kmetija owned by Andreja Jagodic who inherited the farm from her parents. On this self-sufficient farm, she works with her husband, her sister and one other employee. The main activity of the 52ha farm is milk production from which they produce various types of dairy products. They also grow crops used to feed the animals such as pigs and chickens. All their products, ranging from cheeses, milk, eggs, meat to potatoes, are sold in the farm shop on site. Alongside their agricultural activities, the farm maintains the cultural heritage of the site by preserving the 200 years old house and promoting traditional kraft through its unique outdoor stone mill museum. For 300 years, stones present on this farm where used to create millstones that were sold all over Slovenia and Croatia. Today, some of them are still used to ground cereals in Croatia.
The next step of the project is the development of the case studies chosen and create short interviews for the training material. The next meeting will be on the 22nd-23rd March in Krakow, Poland.