We are well aware about challenges rural areas are facing with as are youth leave, fewer jobs and lack of services.
We are living in the world of rapid change – yes, it brings certain risks but offers great opportunities as well. Our initiative is about to take most of these new and rapidly emerging opportunities and put it into service in order to give boost to our rural development.
We want to develop functional cohabitation space giving chance to highly educated and motivated people to work together with local people and decision-makers on new ideas, concepts and business.
What is Smart there? Smart is usually relied on extensive use of ICT but smart also implies on new ways of thinking – investigating innovative concepts and its application in social cooperation, services and agricultural practice. Our mission is to make it happen, creating step by step our rural areas as attractive places to live, learn and work.
Cooperative “Smart Village” Kneizica, is placed in beautiful fertile valley of “Knezopolje” (“prince’s field”, translated from Serbian), surrounded by slopes of Kozara mountain. It has unique cultural and historical heritage, especially from World War 2, since place was center of liberated territory under Partsian movement. For long time, it was also recognizable by successful agricultural production and cooperation practice, which today is stagnating. Place is surrounded by bunch of forgotten archeological localities, from prehistoric, Roman to medieval ones, witnessing turbulent and vivid past times.
The heart of Smart Village is represented by fully reconstructed small ethno-village, built in typical dinaric style, with authenticable buildings, tools and artifacts. Our story begins from here. Smart Village settlement will lean to it, taking care to preserve authenticity but making it more interesting with its infrastructure – paths, gardens, demo fields and buildings.
After tumultuous period of 90’s this region has seen constant deagrarization and depopulation. Young people haven’t felt the economic security, and mainly left the rural areas, by moving to the nearby city’s of Prijedor and Banja Luka, or went abroad.
Agriculture is the main source of income for those families which are still living in Knezpolje, with plant (maize, wheat and soybean) and livestock (Beef, milk, sheep and pigs) production as main activity. Also, there are some fruit (apples, pears and plumbs) and vegetables (cucumbers) producers in the area. Al production models and existing equipment is mainly from early 80’s. Considering this situation it is necessary to “breed in” new ideas and restart the agriculture production in the area in such a way to meet the need of both man and nature.
