The Association for the Promotion of Romanian Food announces through a press release that the conference for disseminating the results and finalizing the project "I Know What I Want! How Do I Support It?" took place at the Cluj-Napoca City Hall, in the Glass Hall.

This project, co-financed from the European Social Fund through the Operational Capacity Administrative Program (POCA) and implemented by the Association for the Promotion of Romanian Food (APAR), was initiated in August 2022 and will be completed at the beginning of next month. The total eligible budget for the project is 418,656.70 lei, of which the non-repayable value is 410,283.55 lei.

The event was attended by representatives of partner NGOs and the Cluj-Napoca City Hall, as well as special guests: Mr. Emil Boc - Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Mr. Bogdan Oancea - Personal Advisor to the Cabinet Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Cosmin Moldovan - President of Agro Transylvania Cluster, and Mr. Felix Arion - Director of Agro Transylvania Cluster.

The main purpose of this meeting was to disseminate the results obtained within the project and to discuss the opportunity of prioritizing public procurement of quality local products through nationally and European funded programs.

By implementing the project activities, the following significant results have been achieved:

• Establishment of an extended and functional partnership, with the participation of 9 non-governmental organizations, aiming to promote dialogue and collaboration for sustainable local development.
• Conducting a study on local development to identify the main needs and opportunities for development in the Cluj community.
• Training and certification of 37 individuals from partner NGOs in the field of elaborating, monitoring, and evaluating strategies and policies for local development, to enhance their skills and contribute to decision-making within the associations.
• Development of a Methodology for evaluating local strategies and a Methodology for developing social dialogue among community members, providing a coherent and objective framework for analyzing their impact and effectiveness.
• Creation of a Local Development Manual, offering practical guidelines and recommendations for implementing local development projects and initiatives.

The project is co-financed from the European Social Fund through the Operational Capacity Administrative Program 2014-2020! www.poca.ro

The Association for the Promotion of Romanian Food (APAR) expresses gratitude to all those involved for their support and commits to continuing efforts towards promoting local development and strengthening dialogue and collaboration among all relevant actors.