The BCN Smart Rural Innovation Coupons are a line of grants for micro-enterprises in the agri-food and forestry sector in the rural municipalities of the demarcation of Barcelona. Co-financed by the Diputació de Barcelona and the ERDF funds, its objective is to promote innovation in the agricultural world of the territory and it does so by subsidizing the hiring of an expert advisory service to a reference entity so that it can help the beneficiary company to make possible its idea of transformation and improvement.

The first call for the BCN Smart Rural Innovation Coupons was held in 2019 and supported seven projects. In 2020, with the remaining budget, a second call has been carried out, which will promote four more companies:

1. La Ginebreda: this livestock farm in Castellterçol (Moianès) is planning to develop and market cooked organic lamb dishes in glass containers. To make the project a reality, they will receive expert advice from the BDN company.
    
2. Niu Verd: to reduce the burden of working hours and improve production efficiency, this organic chicken farm, located in Sant Feliu Sasserra (Bages), has the challenge of monitoring and automating a series of processes. In this case, they will receive expert advice from the Balmes University Foundation.
    
3. Cerveses La Pirata: this brewery in Súria (Bages) is planning to open a new line of beers aged in wooden boots. To make it happen, they will receive expert advice from the company Beer Events.
    
4. Agrària Estany: to optimize its operation, this company dedicated to the production of seeds considers the concentration of all its activities in a single production and logistics centre. The advisory service to make this possible will be carried out by the company Sensus Consultoria. Agrària Estany is located in Sant Martí Sesgueioles (Anoia).

Each of these four projects will receive a grant of 80% of the cost of the advice, up to a maximum of 2,730 euros. The advisory services will be implemented until mid-2021, which will make it easier for the innovation projects of these micro-enterprises to become a reality in the short term.

The BCN Smart Rural Innovation Coupons are managed by the Association of Rural Initiatives of Catalonia and are part of the PECT BCN Smart Rural, a rural development program co-financed by the Diputació de Barcelona and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

More information about BCN Smart Rural Innovation Coupons is here.

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial —