The 1st training course for local authorities and farmers was organized on 8 August 2016 in Grosseto, Italy and the theme was the National Strategic Plan for the Development of the Organic Farming (OF) system in Italy. After consulting all the main OF stakeholders and after the approval by the State-Regions Conference (the body in which relevant national ministries and all the Italian Regional Governments are represented), last spring the Italian Ministry of Agriculture published the OF National Strategic Plan, which includes a set of priority actions with targets to be reached by 2020. A copy of the full Strategic Plan (not yet available in English) was disseminated to the participants of the course and Sergio Andreis presented the Strategic Plan’s ten priority actions and their objectives and discussed the opportunities it entails for both local authorities and farmers, those already involved in OF as well as those wishing to convert to OF. Mauro Conti elaborated on the role of the banking sector in supplying the necessary credit to reach the goals set by the Strategic Plan and explained the tools and procedures already in place to financially support what the Strategic Plan defines as “OF system”. Annalisa Corrado, using her company as example, concentrated on the added value ESCos may offer and on the renewable energy sources and energy efficiency potentials for OF businesses and local authorities in rural areas. In her closing, Valentina Mazzarelli’s summed up the main issues touched upon during the course and invited all participants to a buffet with local organic products.

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