The focus on training technicians and managers in the fruit and vegetable sector was the starting point for the first bootcamp for Producers Organisations (POs), an initiative part of the DEMO.net project, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), of which CONSULAI is a partner. The bootcamp took place on May 28 and 29, in Vimeiro, Portugal, and brought together technicians and managers of POs from different regions of the country for two intensive days of training, sharing experiences and developing skills.

In addition to the entities that belong to the DEMO.net project consortium, the bootcamp was attended by other organisations from the sector, which made it possible to broaden the sharing network and enrich the learning dynamics.

The DEMO.net project, which began in April 2023, aims to boost innovation and competitiveness in the Portuguese fruit and vegetable sector. The project consortium is formed by 14 partners, including COTHN, CONSULAI, FNOP and INIAV at the coordination team, and 10 SMEs representing most of the country’s regions and the main fruit and vegetable sectors.

As part of the empowerment of POs, a priority for the project, this bootcamp took a practical approach by tackling themes considered to be structural: leadership, team management and communication.

Over the course of two days, participants were challenged to reflect on how they work in teams, lead people, and communicate with their peers, practical exercises and sessions facilitated by experts helped to consolidate learning and promote the application of concepts in the real context of organisations.

The first day kicked off with the ‘Partner€ship’ dynamic, in which the participants, taking on the roles of producers, distributors and retailers, simulated a negotiation chain. As the activity progressed, it identified some of the constraints inherent to the players in the sectors, which are responsible for inefficiencies in the chain, inadequate market approach strategies, logistics and price formation, among others. Gains in scale and the ability to establish partnerships were highlighted as key factors for increasing competitiveness, requiring greater collaboration, trust and empathy between organisations. In the afternoon, the focus was on ‘Team Management and Leadership’, in a session based on the needs identified by the participants themselves, promoting practical reflection on Organisational Innovation issues directly related to the real challenges faced by Producer Organisations.

The second day of the bootcamp was entirely dedicated to creating impact on organisations. The session ‘Communicating with Intent’ challenged participants to reflect on the power of communication in the organisational context – from the choice of words to the role of feedback – exploring how intentional communication can transform internal culture and strengthen the effectiveness of teams. The closing session was marked by a guided reflection, in which each participant was asked to outline concrete ways to apply the knowledge and tools they had acquired in their POs – and also to think about ways to extend this impact to other Producer Organisations.

The two days were marked by a collaborative spirit and a strong motivation to turn challenges into opportunities. DEMO.net thus continues to assert itself as a driver of capacity building and organisational innovation in the Portuguese fruit and vegetable sector.

Find out more about the project and follow all the results at: https://akisportugal.pt/grupos/demo-net-rede-de-partilha-demonstracao-e-inovacao/activity/

Contacts:
Carmo Martins, COTHN – carmo@cothn.pt
Carolina Ramos, CONSULAI – cramos@consulai.com
Mariana Pedro, CONSULAI – mpedro@consulai.com