BECOME A PRODUCER – Production & Promotion of Agricultural Products (Fruit, Vegetables, and Aromatic Plants) under Integrated Management
| Duration: | 01/02/2012 - 15/11/2015 |
| Partners: |
«DIMITRA» Education & Consulting S.A. |
| Project Website: | www.gineparagogos.gr |
| Authority: | Ministry of Labour, Social Security & Welfare General Secretariat for the Management of Community and Other Resources Special Service for Social Inclusion and Social Economy |
| Program: |
TOP-EKO – Local Integrated Programs for Socially Vulnerable Groups 
|
Description
The “Become a Producer” project includes a set of subsidized actions related to the selection, appropriate preparation, training, entrepreneurship education, continuous professional guidance, comprehensive career counseling, and psychological support of 80 unemployed individuals from the Municipalities of Larissa and Kileler who belong to Socially Vulnerable Groups, with the aim of engaging them in the production and marketing of agricultural products.
The objective of the program is the professional engagement of these individuals in the production and promotion of selected fruit and vegetable products and aromatic plants, through the implementation of an Integrated Crop Management System.
The project was selected and presented by the Project Manager, Vasiliki Anastasopoulou, as a distinct Good Practice (Inspiring Practice) at the “Policy Learning Forum: Vocational Training for the Long-Term Unemployed,” organized by CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) in Thessaloniki on June 15–16, 2017, for selected policymakers involved in vocational training for the long-term unemployed.
The educational organization “DIMITRA” E.S. S.A. was responsible for the overall coordination of the Development Partnership established for the implementation of the project. In addition to coordination, it undertook all the actions related to entrepreneurship training and vocational education, as well as professional counseling for employment promotion and business development. This included supporting beneficiaries in launching their commercial/entrepreneurial activities and developing the business plan for the Social Enterprise.
More specifically, it implemented the following actions:
- Local Labor Market Study
- Five (5) Training Seminars titled “Sense of Initiative and Entrepreneurship” of thirty (30) hours each, for a total of 80 participants (2,400 person-hours of training)
- The training seminar was designed in such a way as to promote participants’ certification of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes acquired upon successful completion
- Participation of eighty (80) individuals in the certification exams
- Training programs on agricultural entrepreneurship and farm management for 80 individuals (4 groups of 20 participants each, 140 hours per group = 11,200 person-hours of training)
- Project Presentation Day for the Local Community
- Information and Publicity Action Plan
- 1 project website (available in two languages)
- Project logo / Information letter / 500 posters / 1,000 informational brochures (four-page leaflet)
- Professional Counseling for producers. Provision of Entrepreneurship Counseling & Development of Business Plans:
- 4 one-hour individual counseling sessions and 2 group sessions for 80 participants
- Implementation of 1 event and production of related publicity and distribution material
- Development of the Business Plan for the award-winning social enterprise “GI THESSALIS” with 46 members, recognized by the Ministry of Development
- Development of 28 Business Plans for the members of the social enterprise “GI THESSALIS”
