In January the training cycles foreseen by the EU-Turkey Coops to Coast project were completed and dedicated 
to the Fishing Cooperatives and the Civil Society Organizations of Rize involved in the creation of community initiatives for local coastal development.
The project aims to contribute to the development of a sustainable civil society dialogue between EU Member States and Turkey, facilitating the involvement of Civil Society Organisations in the implementation of the acquis on fisheries policies.
Haliéus implements the CoopsToCoast project in partnership with the Black Sea Technology and Culture Association. In a first implementation phase of the project, local Turkish fishing cooperatives were supported by experts from the Italian cooperative world to develop knowledge on EU policies in the sector and opportunities for diversification in the blue economy, with a particular focus on the case of fish tourism. The Training involved fishermen from the ports of Rize and Pazar.
A second training cycle was dedicated to the representatives of 10 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) of Rize, which were selected on the basis of their interest in collaborating in the planning of community initiatives for local coastal development. The training covered the following topics: the main EU financial instruments for local development, the Coastal Action Groups (CAGs and LAGs), the intersectoral Blue Economy, and participatory decision-making processes.
Participants, now invested by their organisations as Contact Points for EU projects and policies, also benefited from an English language course aimed at increasing their ability to interact with European organisations. The selected CSOs are sectoral organisations, youth associations, women entrepreneurs' associations, environmental and cultural associations.
