[Diamante Barbarossa]

Dear Interreg Euro-MED community members,

The Agency for Innovation in the Agri-Food and Fisheries Sector of the Marche Region (AMAP) is a Regional sector agency (public body) supporting the Agriculture Department of the Marche Region (Central Italy) in the implementation of regional agri-food policies and strategies.

Under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme’s 8th Call, AMAP intends to submit a project proposal as Lead Partner under the Priority “Promoting Green Living Areas”, Topic “Urban Agriculture and Resilient Food Systems.”

The project proposal empowers local communities and public authorities to jointly develop community-based food production systems. By combining food production, biodiversity enhancement and community engagement, it aims to improve access to urban green spaces, strengthen local food resilience, and develop sustainable governance models that can be sustained and replicated across different territories.

We are looking for partners from eligible countries other than Italy and Croatia:
– Municipalities and local authorities able to host a pilot site: they should be able to make a public space available (for setting up community gardens);
– Regional or local development agencies, sectoral agencies (e.g. rural development or agriculture agencies) and public bodies with expertise in agricultural biodiversity, social agriculture and urban agriculture.
Experience in participatory governance, urban regeneration, biodiversity conservation, food policies or community engagement is particularly welcome

If you are interested in joining the consortium, please contact us by 15 October at diamante_barbarossa@amap.marche.it.

[Ivan Saltaric]

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for sharing this project concept. I am writing on behalf of DURA – City of Dubrovnik Development Agency (Croatia), as the topic is very relevant to our areas of work and to the wider Dubrovnik territorial context.

DURA has extensive experience in Interreg programmes, including Euro-MED, Italy–Croatia and Central Europe, with projects related to sustainable territorial development, climate resilience, circular economy, stakeholder engagement, local development and territorial pilot implementation.

We are particularly interested in the focus on community-based food production, urban green spaces, local food resilience and participatory governance.

In the Dubrovnik area, there is a strong territorial connection between the city as an important market and consumption centre and the surrounding municipalities, such as Konavle, Župa dubrovačka and Dubrovačko primorje, where local agricultural production and small producers are more present. We believe this could provide an interesting basis for a pilot linking community participation, local food production and urban/peri-urban resilience.

We noticed that you are currently looking for partners from eligible countries other than Italy and Croatia, so we fully understand that this may limit DURA’s possibility to join as a funded partner at this stage.

Nevertheless, we wanted to express our interest in the concept in case there is still room for an additional Croatian contribution, a complementary pilot, stakeholder involvement, or another suitable role within the project structure.

If Croatia is already fully covered within the consortium, we would also be very happy to remain in contact for future cooperation opportunities.

Best regards,
Ivan Saltarić
DURA – City of Dubrovnik Development Agency, Croatia
isaltaric@dura.hr

[Kakanj Municipality]

Dear Ms Barbarossa,

On behalf of the Municipality of Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are writing to express our interest in the project proposal that AMAP intends to submit under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme’s 8th Call, within the priority *“Promoting Green Living Areas”* and the topic *“Urban Agriculture and Resilient Food Systems.”*

We find the proposed project particularly interesting, as its objectives related to community engagement, sustainable food production, biodiversity enhancement and the development of green public spaces offer promising opportunities for local-level action and cooperation.

As a local authority, the Municipality of Kakanj would be interested in exploring the possibility of joining your project consortium and contributing to the development and implementation of relevant activities in our municipality.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss the project concept, the potential role of the Municipality of Kakanj, and the conditions for participation in the partnership. If convenient for your team, we would be happy to arrange a short online meeting in the coming days to exchange ideas and explore possible areas of cooperation.

We would appreciate it if you could share any additional information about the proposed activities, the expected role of municipal partners, and the next steps in the preparation of the project proposal.

Thank you for considering our interest. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that this may be the beginning of a fruitful cooperation between AMAP and the Municipality of Kakanj.

Kind regards

[Denisa Sarajlic]

Dear Diamante,
We are reaching out on behalf of SKRIPTA, an SME from Bosnia and Herzegovina, regarding your emerging proposal on Urban Agriculture and Resilient Food Systems.

Our contribution would complement the consortium’s agricultural, environmental and technical expertise by bringing a strong municipal innovation and real-life piloting dimension. We work closely with local governments and use design thinking, human-centred design, innovation sprints and challenge-based co-creation to connect municipalities with SMEs, innovators, academia and technical partners around concrete local needs.

Within your concept, we could contribute municipal pilot territories in Bosnia and Herzegovina and help shape practical challenges around resilient and multifunctional public spaces, community use, accessibility, shade, green and blue connections, local food systems and the regeneration of underused areas.

We could also support consortium partners in identifying suitable municipal settings in which their existing solutions, tools or approaches could be tested and adapted to real local conditions.

We believe this could add a strong implementation and innovation layer to the proposal and would be very interested to discuss whether there is still room for an additional project partner.

Best regards,
SKRIPTA
info@skripta.ba
nedo@skripta.ba

[Valentina Formica]

Dear Diamante,

I am writing on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A) of the University of Catania (Sicily), Italy, to express our interest in joining a consortium as a scientific partner within the Interreg Euro-MED Green Living Areas Mission.

Specifically, our research group, coordinated by Prof. Daniela Romano, Full Professor of Horticulture and Floriculture, has extensive scientific and applied experience in Mediterranean landscape and urban horticulture, ornamental and Mediterranean plant species, sustainable management of green areas, and plant responses to abiotic stresses.

Our expertise includes, in particular:
selection and evaluation of ornamental and Mediterranean plant species for urban green spaces and climate-resilient landscapes;
physiological and productive responses of plants to water scarcity, salinity, shading and other environmental stresses;
water-use efficiency and identification of species suitable for low-input and water-limited environments;
planning and sustainable management of parks, gardens and Mediterranean green areas;
use and valorization of native plant biodiversity for urban and peri-urban greening;
research on medicinal and aromatic plants, including essential oils, plant extracts and their potential applications in urban horticulture;
development and evaluation of plant-based solutions contributing to biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation and ecosystem services.

The research group has long-standing experience in national and European research projects addressing sustainable horticulture, plant biodiversity, Mediterranean production systems, urban green infrastructure and plant adaptation to environmental constraints. We are available to join a consortium as a scientific partner and contribute actively from the proposal development stage.

Please let me know whether I can join your project proposal.
Thank you,
My best wishes,
Valentina Formica
valentina.formica@phd.unict.it

[Allyson BARBAUD]

Dear Diamante,

Thank you for sharing your initiative! We are very interested in joining your consortium for the 8th Interreg Euro-MED call for proposals and would be delighted to explore how we could work together on this exciting project.

Your objectives strongly resonate with our interests in developing innovative forms of agriculture in urban and peri-urban areas, supporting farmers, and building more resilient and sustainable local food systems.

We see several opportunities for collaboration and would be happy to contribute to the project through a number of potential areas of action:

Experimenting with new agricultural models in urban and peri-urban areas, by developing pilot sites to test innovative cultivation systems and explore opportunities for farmers to establish their activities in these areas.

Testing cultivation methods adapted to water stress, with a focus on more water-efficient practices and agricultural systems that can better withstand the effects of climate change.

Exploring solutions for agricultural production on potentially polluted soils, including alternative cultivation systems that could help make productive use of urban spaces while ensuring environmental and food safety.

Exploring synergies with our AGRITECH project, which could offer complementary approaches and opportunities for agricultural innovation and experimentation.

These are some initial ideas, and we would be very happy to develop them together with AMAP and the other partners, building on everyone’s expertise and identifying the most relevant activities for the consortium.

We would be pleased to join the partnership and contribute to shaping a collaborative project that delivers practical, innovative and replicable solutions for urban agriculture and resilient food systems across the Euro-MED area.

It would be great to arrange a call to discuss the next steps and see how we can best contribute to the consortium.

Looking forward to working together!

BR

Allyson BARBAUD
Communauté d’Agglomération Cannes Pays de Lérins – FRANCE
allyson.barbaud@cannespaysdelerins.fr

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