The EU project “Capacity Building for the European Green Deal according to the Measures of the Local Community”, was completed on May 15, 2023, after 15 months of duration. The project objective was to strengthen the representatives of civil society organizations in order to improve their work in crisis situations.

The lead partner Food Waste Prevention Centre – FWAPC (CEPOH) implemented the project together with the project partners Consumer – Society for the Protection of Consumers in Croatia, Centre for Consumer Education and Information, and Croatia Red Cross – City Red Cross Society Osijek.

Two workshops were held within the project, covering crisis communication in April of 2022, and food donation in crisis situations in June of 2022, where representatives of civil society organizations, partner organizations, charity organizations, and experts for crisis communication and food safety participated. Experience with the end-users shared at the workshops served as a valuable basis for the production of two thematic guidebooks, created during 2022.

The guidebook for communication in crisis situations consists of guidelines for crisis communication that could often have a significant role in damage control and in the prevention of further adverse consequences. The guidebook about food donation in crisis situations covers proper food donation and for the first time, all the rules about donating what, to whom, and under what conditions can be found in one place.

After presenting the manuals to the public in January of 2023, the representatives of local associations and civil initiatives were additionally educated and prepared for implementing the activities that ensure services of public interest for all citizens, adapted to current situations, with a series of three thematic webinars.

The webinar “Food Donation in Crisis Situations“ was held on February 14, 2023, and the other webinar “Crisis Communication“ on March 20, 2023. Both webinars gathered more than 40 representatives of civil society organizations from all parts of Croatia. The last webinar, which was organized as a half-day education for skill multiplicators, was held on April 17, 2023, under the topic “Let’s Reduce Food Waste in Crisis Situations”, where 20 representatives of civil society organizations participated that want to strengthen their capacities in projects dealing with food donation and transferring knowledge to colleagues and volunteers, as well as implementing the knowledge towards end-users.

The project was significantly present in the media, during its duration, since the topic of food waste reduction is extremely important and ongoing. Food donations in crisis situations that affect society are especially sensitive issues.

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