Heteropolitics Volos, April 18, 2019

1. The collaborative “Ecosystem” of Karditsa HeteropoliticsVolos, April 18, 2019 Development Agency of Karditsa Bellis Vasileios, General Director

2. The contents of the presentation • The profile of the area (Prefecture of Karditsa) • The profile of Development Agency of Karditsa • The “Collaboration Incubator” • The “Collaborative Ecosystem”

3. Prefecture of Karditsa

4. The size of Karditsa’s Prefecture • Area: 2.636 Km2 • 18,8% of the total area of Thessaly Region • 2% of Greece • Plane area: 47,7% • Mountainous: 44% • Semi – mountainous: 8,3%

5. The changes of population during the decade 2001-2011

6. Distribution of the population

7. The profile of the productive system

8. The primary sector

9. The organization of the primary sector • Small farms (4,5 ha) • The collapse of traditional cooperatives • Spatial base (one in each village) • Top to down establishment • Lack of cooperative education and generally lack of compliance with the 7 cooperative principles • Low exploitation (processing) of the products of the primary sector in local level • Lack of extension services

10. The old model of cooperatives • Each village, one cooperative (spatial cooperatives) • The State organized the support of farmers through the extension science schemes • The “hard” investments was undertook by the Union of cooperatives on the level of the prefecture • The system established for emergency reasons “top-down”: to cope with the hunger and starvation after the 2nd World War Development Agency of Karditsa

11. Main characteristics of the “old cooperatives” • Government intervention, • Conflicts in investments prioritization, • Small contribution by the farmers, • Lack of ownership by them, • Lack of self – control, • Inspection and control by the “agricultural Bank”. • When this inspection interrupted, they corrupted and collapsed Development Agency of Karditsa

12. The emergence of the new generation cooperatives • Main characteristics: • One homogeneous range of products = one cooperative • Focus on the supply chain and to the market, • Farmers as entrepreneurs and not as officers, • Strong contribution and ownership attitude, • The activity is organized around an accepted and unanimous investment plan • The legal status is not necessarily the “agriculture cooperative” but also “civic cooperative” or “social cooperative” Development Agency of Karditsa

13. The obstacles • There is not a common law for the social economy and cooperatives. Four ministries are responsible to produce laws on the issue and each one does not recognize or accept the other cooperative types • Even the law of the Ministry of Rural Development and Foods is oriented mainly to the old model. • There are not support schemes to facilitate the establishment of cooperatives (neither in rural areas nor in urban) although there are announced policies, programs and allocated money Development Agency of Karditsa

14. The Development Agency of Karditsa (AN.KA SA)

15. The initial shareholders

16. The start-up and the values • Small capital (15.000 Euros) • A small team of scientists • Enterprenual spirit and attitude • Ideological base: Self-government, cooperative, democracy, active citizens • Significant part of voluntary work • Willingness to support the local society

17. The strategy

18. The method to solve a local problem

19. The “Collaboration Incubator” of Development Agency of Karditsa • The support and the “incubation” of innovative initiatives, as well as the organization of the “debate” on local development issues were the basic characteristics of Development Agency from its establishment. • The “incubator” developed in order to: • Eliminate the start-up costs of the collective schemes of “new type • To cope with the bad reputation of the “old fashion” cooperatives Development Agency of Karditsa

20. The main services of the “incubator” Development Agency of Karditsa

21. Early examples (1993-1996) Development Agency of Karditsa

22. Current examples Development Agency of Karditsa

23. The Collaborative Ecosystem of Karditsa: a group of collective schemes Development Agency of Karditsa

24. The Collaborative Ecosystem Development Agency of Karditsa

25. The Collaborative Ecosystem and the local economy (1) • Activities covered by members in Primary sector: • Milk (from sheep and cows) • Cereals • Tomato • Snales • Honey and bee-cell products • Tobaco • Legumes • Stevia • Superfoods • Grapes, wine and spirits • Forest products Development Agency of Karditsa

26. The legumes cooperative Development Agency of Karditsa

27. The Collaborative Ecosystem and the local economy (2) • Productive activities covered by members in Secondary sector: • Wine and spirits • Pellets • Fruit jams • Sweeteners extracted from Stevia Development Agency of Karditsa

28. The energy cooperative Development Agency of Karditsa

29. The Stevia cooperative Development Agency of Karditsa

30. The Collaborative Ecosystem and the local economy (3) • Activities covered by members in Tertiary sector: • Farmer’s services • Medicine commerce • Farmer’s supplying (fertilizers, seeds etc) • Financial services (banking etc) • Tourism and especially rural tourism • Sports • Social Care • Activities against exclusion and discrimination • Theatre • Culture Development Agency of Karditsa

31. The Cooperative Bank of Karditsa

32. The Intercultural Center Development Agency of Karditsa

33. Some figures Development Agency of Karditsa

34. What is happening in Karditsa? Development Agency of Karditsa

35. Investors – Grants Incubator Financial Tool Cooperative Bank Garantees Investment rediness Loans Grants and services Social Enterprises Services fee Grants and Services • Production of products or Services offer • Social Impact The place of the financial tool and incubator in the local ecosystem of Social Enterprises Development Agency of Karditsa

36. The partnership of the Social Financial tool Development Agency of Karditsa Development Agency of Karditsa

37. The training platform (MOOC)https://kalomathe.gr/

38. The partnership of the training platform

39. Thank you for your attention