From a Small Online Meeting to a Living Network: The Story of Bulgarian National Network for Biodiversity Friendly-Farming Practices

When the Bulgarian National Network for Biodiversity-Friendly Farming was formally established in March 2025 as part of the FarmBioNet Horizon Europe project, the team at the University of Forestry faced a challenge that many network builders know well: how do you inspire people around something that is still just a vision?

Our first kick-off meeting was held online, with around ten participants – mostly people we already knew and worked with. Everything was still in the planning stage, with no tangible results to show yet, no case studies, no tools. And yet, our task was to engage farmers, practitioners, and agricultural stakeholders from the very start. Looking back, that challenge turned out to be one of the most formative experiences of the entire project.

The turning point came when we reached out to Hrankoop, a food cooperative with a network of farmers and livestock producers who work with genuine passion for sustainable agriculture. We met for a coffee, talked about FarmBioNet’s goals, and something clicked. They joined the network, gave us their full trust and support and, crucially, opened doors we hadn’t expected. They invited us to one of their farmers’ markets, where we set up a tent and spent the day talking directly with producers, explaining what biodiversity-friendly farming means and why it matters. That single event brought in a wave of new members.

Our first workshop followed shortly after, in the village of Negushevo, as part of the AlterAgro festival. Gathered on an open meadow, surrounded by nature, farmers and practitioners exchanged knowledge and ideas in a way that no online meeting could replicate. It was informal, warm, and real – and it remains the most powerful moment in the life of our network so far.

Today, the Bulgarian FaB NN counts 30 members, and the growth has come steadily through in-person connection. At a conference in Plovdiv – one of our BFF events, we unexpectedly ran into two of our network members: a young couple who had read about the event in our newsletter and travelled to another city just to be there. It was a reminder that the newsletters are being read, that people care, and that the network is alive beyond our own efforts.

One of our most dedicated members has not missed a single workshop, farm visit, or event. Every time, she leaves energised, full of ideas about how to apply what she has learned on her own farm. Stories like hers are what make the work meaningful.

Two activities stand out as highlights. The second farm visit – to an orchard in the Region of Stara Zagora – sparked a spontaneous, animated exchange among participants who shared experiences, swapped contacts, and discussed ideas long after the formal programme ended. In those moments, you feel that the network is truly functioning as it was meant to. The second was the Soil Forum in December 2025, co-organised with Hrankoop, which attracted new members and generated so much interest that strangers stopped us during the coffee break to ask how they could join.

Most recently, one of our network members, who has been particularly engaged with our survey-based approach to understanding farming needs, expressed interest in a deeper collaboration. We were invited to become an associated partner in a related project, and we will be organising joint events together.

If there is one thing we have learned, it is this: in-person contact is irreplaceable. Online formats have their place, but the real momentum of the network has come from face-to-face meetings – in farmers’ fields, at festivals, at markets, over coffee. The other lesson is that trust takes time but pays off. Our partnership with Hrankoop did not happen through a formal process, it grew from a conversation and a shared set of values.

For other National Network leaders, our advice is simple: find your Hrankoop. Look for partners who already have the trust of your target community, and build from there. And don’t underestimate the newsletters – people do read them, and sometimes they travel cities to prove it.

The Bulgarian NN will continue to grow through the activities ahead – more farm visits, more workshops, and now joint events with other project. Our goal is not just to reach more members, but to deepen the quality of exchange within the network: more co-creation, more peer-to-peer learning, and a stronger connection between what farmers know from practice and what research can offer.

We believe that biodiversity-friendly farming is not just a policy goal – it is something farmers can genuinely embrace when they see it, touch it, and discuss it with each other, out in the open air.