On Wednesday 24th of February we held our very first online Unconference! This was the kick-off event for Orange Grove’s redesigned Agri-Food Programme, which we are launching under the international umbrella of the Lighthouse Project by Wageningen University & Research (WUR). 

 

The Lighthouse Project will be a bottom-up multi-level entrepreneurship programme, built to accommodate the varying needs of entrepreneurs in the wider sectors of Food and Sustainability (from small producers to AgTech startups). It will be delivered in partnership with WUR’s StartHub. 

 

As a bottom-up programme, our first event couldn’t be other than an “Unconference”. What is an unconference? An unconference is an interactive participant-driven meeting, creating space for peer-to-peer learning, collaboration and creativity. No keynote speakers, no powerpoint presentations. Participants decide what the discussion topics will be and then brainstorm, share experiences and exchange ideas. 

 

We chose to have an unconference because we firmly believe that we cannot build action plans and training programmes without the input of the growth drivers in the respective field -in this case, the producers, the startups, the corporates, the stakeholders. They are the experts to listen to. 

 

Breaking out into 3 virtual rooms, the participants of our Agri-preneurship unconference (representing small producers, AgTech startups, multinationals, foundations, organizations and the Ministry of Agriculture) picked up the discussion topics of Regenerative Agriculture, Technology meets Tradition and the Greek Approach in Agriculture. Mapping needs, identifying opportunities and challenges, learning from each other’s expertise, understanding the space where more training and support is needed by organizations such as Orange Grove, and most importantly networking (building a strong ecosystem and network of stakeholders in the agri-field) are some of the outcomes (and goals) of the unconference. 

 

The Unconference on Agri-preneurship was organized by Orange Grove and WUR’s StartHub, in collaboration with the Netherlands Embassy in Greece and the active support of our main sponsor Heineken (Athenian Brewery) and sponsor FrieslandCampina. 

This unconference is the first of a series of Orange Unconferences that we will roll-out in the following months for various subjects & fields. 

 

More information about our Agri-Food Programme, the “Lighthouse Project”, will soon be announced!