The ReFE&F21 is a project about food events and festivals in the Baltic Sea region. It will focus on the business resilience of the sector.
Food events and festivals in the southern parts of the Baltic Sea region are severly affected by the pandemic. Numerous business and social activities have closed or slowed down. ReFE&F21 notes that the current situation has brought entrepreneurs and rural economies to the brink of bankruptcy. It is therefore crucial that food events and festival entrepreneurs strengthen their situation. Many of them have been working together for years to increase the attractiveness of the rural areas on the Southern Baltic Sea region. Yet, ReFE&F21 notes that they do not have the capacity to secure the future of the food events and festivals sector.
The project wants to strengthen the resilience of the entire food events and festivals ecosystem, and thus break the negative trend in the rural areas of the southern parts of the Baltic Sea region. ReFE&F21’s goal is to create a consortium of academic institutions, tourism and regional representatives. The consortium will be able to analyze the sector and develop creative and insightful business solutions. Moreover, it will bring together stakeholders such as entrepreneurs, public organizations and small and mid-size enterprises. The consortium may eventually evolve into a think tank, but that is not yet decided. The project activities include a consortium kick-off meeting, workshops on the post-pandemic recovery, rural food events, festival tourism, business practices and policy changes