The NGO Green Home organized a networking event yesterday, December 11, 2024, in Podgorica for members of the agricultural innovation ecosystem.

This event brought together local food producers, agricultural farms, students, technologists, scientists, as well as those at the beginning of their business journey or considering starting a startup in this field.

The event reaffirmed the importance of networking and connecting agricultural producers, as well as the need for joint actions to improve conditions for further development of this industry. It also served as a platform for discussing current challenges and opportunities within the local agricultural system and for presenting EIT Food activities to the participants.

MSc. Branka Žižić, EIT Community Officer, presented several current programs launched by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology in the field of food (EIT Food). Emphasis was placed on the EIT Jumpstarter call, aimed at those with promising ideas for innovative products and services in agriculture, food processing, health, and energy. This call is open until April 26, and the prize for the best idea amounts to 10,000 euros. In addition to this, the calls for TEAMUP, TEST FARMS, and SALES BOOSTER were also presented.

Success stories were shared by:

• Dejan Ergić, who deals with topics from the field of permaculture, shared inspiring experiences related to returning to nature.
• Aleksandrina Vujačić, founder of the Academy for Urban Ecological Engineering.
• Ana Vuković, representative of the Urban Garden in Podgorica, the largest urban garden in Europe.
• Luka Ivanović, representative of Ray&Jules innovators, who developed a method for roasting coffee 100% on solar energy.

This networking event was the second part of the EIT Food Startup Awareness Event, which was preceded by the EIT Food Challenge Lab – a multi-step program organized as a three-day hackathon, where participants had the opportunity to exchange experiences, come up with new ideas, and win valuable prizes.

The event is part of activities conducted in collaboration with the European Institute of Innovation and Technology in the field of food (EIT Food), aimed at networking the innovative agricultural ecosystem.