Recovery of abandoned oil trees and creation of jobs

The organisation tells its story in videos. These videos show the remarkable change brought about by restoring abandoned olive trees and finding sponsors for them. These efforts have not only improved the place itself, but also enhanced the local community. The stories highlight the importance of preserving these olive trees and how vital they are to the region.

The stories, told by the oldest inhabitant of the village, serve as a call to action for tourism. The videos show that currently 70% of the olive trees in Oliete have fallen into disrepair. The aim is to invite people who do not know the olive trees to learn more about them and to lend a hand themselves.

With an annual contribution, anyone can choose an abandoned olive tree, give it a name and visit it whenever they want. As a thank you, the sponsors receive 2 litres of extra virgin olive oil every year.

Why is it regenerative?

Restores abandoned olive trees and emphasises their importance to the local community. Offers tree sponsorships that enable a personal connection to the region’s heritage. Invites people to actively contribute to the preservation of ancient olive groves.

“The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein”

Project partners met in Aveiro on the 14th and 15th of September 2023. It was the perfect opportunity to visit the destination with regenerative glasses on, to understand its many assets but also some of the challenges the destination is facing. Face to face project meetings always provide the partners with the unique opportunity to learn about the work of the hosting partner and get valuable insights about the destination. In this case partners were hosted by the dedicated team of management and tourism professionals of the University of Aveiro who shared a wealth of insights about a city that was new to many of the participants.

The Enforce project is well on track when it comes to the project work plan, which means that after having completed the Best Practice collection of innovative examples about storytelling for regeneration and also the Storyteller’s Guide, partners used the meeting to discuss the development of the Enforce Training Programme.

For the next few months partners will be working on developing the content in line with guidelines provided by the University of Usak, our project partner from Turkey.
The course should be available for piloting in January/February 2024 and will also be available in the partner languages once all translations are finalised.

The ENFORCE team met in the beautiful city of Luxembourg for its kick-off meeting. It took place at the premises of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg (also known as CCIL), which opened its doors to warmly welcome all partners.

The team was aware of the importance of this first meeting and approached it with the same enthusiasm, as it plays an important role in building strong bonds that will contribute to the success of the entire cooperation. With the common goal of building a solid foundation, the participants discussed in depth the first steps required for the project ENFORCE.

During this visit, the project objectives were discussed in depth to ensure that each partner has a comprehensive understanding of the overarching goals. The outcome of the kick-off meeting was extremely satisfying for all partners and generated enthusiasm among the team. It was a success and left everyone inspired and energised.

The journey of ENFORCE has officially begun and with the collective expertise of the committed partners, there is no doubt that it will thrive and achieve remarkable results.

Project N: 2022-1-LU01-KA220-VET-000089887