The Presidium

Andrea Szabadkai is a real „self-made” rural developer. She fights on behalf of the small-scale producers to get more possibilities for the success of the traditions under law.

She was working as a biology and PE teacher for six years in an elementary school in Kecskemét and Szeged. Later on she’s organized festivals working as a programme organizer at the Csongrád’s Cultural Institute and a Folk Olympic Games as a member of the Bio- culture Association. She started to make researches connected to communal feeding because of her biggest child’s milk and egg allergy. She got into touch with the Union for the Living Tisza (SZÖVET) during her research work. She is presidency member at the Association currently. They work for the improvement of the means of subsistence for those living along the Tisza reservoir. They try to forestall and increase the safety in the case of flood and preserve the ecological values of the Tisza.

At the moment she works for the ’Living Tisza’ trademark and to build up the market for the land products. For example during their “Sour cherry saver” action they have bought tons of sour cherry from the producers and sold it out directly to the customers. After this action a customer database was built up. The SZÖVET continuously informs them about the actual reachable manufacture products. They bring local land products and vegetables to the customers and to the school canteens, too.
Ms. Szabadkai is the member of the Local Product Round Table, and the Traditional Food Products Workgroup. She works as a professional coordinator for the civil business federation of the small-scale producers. She also cooperates with the Ministry. She knows very well the European edicts and the domestic regulations. She gives legal aids for the producers and the village tourist services. She is representative of this area in the HNRN presidency. Her main aim is to represent the local products business, the small-scale producers, the village tourism, etc. She believes that with the help of the HNRN the Hungarian producers can get the essential information, knowledge and market possibilities.

The youngest member of the MNVH believes in the environmental awareness of the rural development. The young mother lives in the countryside and would like to support local initiatives that give hopes for the society.

Rita Francia loves nature from her childhood. She studied environmental management in Gödöllő. During her studies she participated in foreign study-tours. She followed the work of the GATE Green Club with attention and also met with the significant people of the environmentalist movements.

She learned the know how of the efficient cooperation at the international green civil organisation, the CEEWEB. She invested her interconnections as working together with domestic and Central-European green organisations’ colleagues. Lobbied for the green goals at DG-Agri and during her work she’s visited several village initiatives. She also coordinated a supportable rural development sample project in Transylvania.

After the civil sphere she’s started to work as an environmental protection rapporteur for the Agricultural and Rural Development Ministry in 2007. She believed to be more effective for the green goals working at the Ministry. She prepared the Sustainable Development Committee (UNO) conference and also cooperated with the Agricultural-Environment working group of the OECD.

A new epoch opened when her son has born. She moved to the countryside with her family. They got most of the foods from the bio farmers of Fülöpjakab. The young environmentalist feels herself lucky surely in her present workplace. She is working as a rural development project coordinator for the Green Living Matrix civil organisation. She can help to call the environment-friendly ideas into life in the southern part of the Great Plain.

Mrs. Francia believes in the knowledge of the local communities and also in the rural development based on the folk wisdom and the proper land farming. The environmental awareness mentality and the sustainability increasingly reached the country side. Working as presidency member of the HNRN she tries to support local initiatives that uses the local resources and increase the employment. In this way they would create values and give hopes for the society. She would like to make popular the ecotourism and agro-tourism. Also wish to use the local products at the local communal feeding. She tries to safe the traditions and gets the local agriculture based on it.

Csilla Keller pays high attention to the cooperation of the stakeholders practising rural development at the ground. She knows very well the local and the regional applications from the side of applicants and of the call for proposal writers’ side. As the leader of the Sub-Alpine LEADER Association she will manage the LEADER working group at the HNRN.

Immediately right after she started work on a PHARE application with her university teacher as she got her diploma at the Eszterházy Károly College in 2002. That was the first step and was followed by numerous ones. She was writing and managing applications ant at the same time she was teaching at the university, too.
She moved to the neighbourhood of Sopron and started to work for the West Transdanubian Regional Development Agency. Their first regional operative programme has been implemented in 2004-2006. They’ve organised trainings for the mayors living in the micro-regions of Sopron-Fertőd and worked out co-operation plans and projects before the start of the next 2007-2013 EU planning period. These local initiatives were very new in the region. “They were not communicating with each other, didn’t know who is responsible for what. Just few of them appeared on the working sessions. So it was impossible to work out even a cycle tour project” – remembers Mrs. Keller to the difficult beginning.
After the introduction of the LEADER approach in Hungary she established the Alpokalja-Ikvamente Local Action Group.
She believes in education. At the moment she works on a micro-regional local knowledge module for primary schools. She would train and support the local action groups (LAGs). She believes in submitting the experience and gives chance for the good ideas.
She will manage the LEADER working group and will continue writing out HNRN call for proposals. Moreover she will make efforts for a more effective user-friendly rural development programme in Hungary till 2013 and in the next 7-year project cycle, too.

István Kovács has not rest, not for a moment. He is the president of the “Hegypásztor Kör” of Oszkó and works for the development of the Hegyhát area. His willingness combined with agility and enormous power that can be invested in the presidency of the HNRN.

He has youthful impulse, enthusiasm and vocation for the community. István Kovács can be a model for a lot of young people. He is working all the time for his home county Vas. He is member of the “Göcsej-Hegyhát Leader Association” and for more then 10 years now president of the “Hegypásztor Kör” of Oszkó. Admittedly he is inspired by to connect the town and the village. He likes to spend his free-time in the vegetable sown with his two daughters. The local values and the agriculture plays important role for Mr. Kovács who is presidency member of the HNRN.

He was working as a regional development rapporteur and also as a micro-region assignee. He was publishing a book about the sustainability of the services. Later he established a consulting company. Besides that he accepted mission work in several tradition preserver, community builder and workplace-creator projects. He never felt overwhelmed by the parallel works moreover rather profited from them.

At the end of the 80s he was working for a project with young university students from Debrecen to save the old wine press-houses at the vineyard of Oszkó. They continued this project in 2006. “We decided to give new perspective and possibility for the young people living at the Hegyhát. The renovation of the wine press-houses gave a good opportunity to achieve our aims” – mentions Mr. Kovács their most successful developments. They gained money from the National Public Employment Foundation (OFA) not only to renew the old buildings but give work for young people being in disadvantageous position.

They joined to the AGRYA projects and initiated environmental educational programmes and build up the Teleház and Vinotéka too. “Our aim was to keep in mind that the project has to go on without any application support.

As a presidency member of the HNRN he tries to strengthen the non-profit sectors and advertises the community attitude. His aim is to help the collaboration developments in order to raise the regional values.

The carrier of Gábor Ónodi was determined most of all by architecture, farms, villages and rural development. The university director received the Pro Region price in this year for his outstanding tutorial, researcher and project planning activities.

Three years after getting his architect diploma he started to work with rural development tasks at the Gödöllő Agricultural University. One of his tasks was to plan modern and new farmer houses for the career-starter farmers in 1987-88. This project challenged him with new and exciting ideas.

Twenty years ago collaborating with professor József Ángyán (at present political state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development) tried to organise the Institute of Environmental and Landscape Management. Besides Mr Ónodi became the deputy head of the Institute in Gödöllő he also undertook different project tasks.

Cooperating with Bálint Csatári at the Ministry of Environmental Protection Mr. Ónodi was responsible as a project coordinator for the Great Plain (Alföld) Programme. He was making several researches about the Plain farms. Also designed and realized several farm buildings at the Kiskunság.

The Hungarian Society for Urban Planning membership was also very important in his career. For the proposal of Sándor Keresztes they’ve established the Village Section of the Society. “As the president of the Village Section of the Hungarian Urban Society I also became the member of the European Village Reformer and Rural Development working group.

Since 2006 I participate as an organizer and qualifier at domestic and European Village Reformer applications. In the meantime I was working as a supervisor for more than 100 diploma thesis under the rural development topic” – said Mr Ónodi, who is the presidency member of the HNRN. At the same time he is director of the Institute of Environmental and Landscape Management of the Szent István University and director of the GIS Department.

“Only you can start and use the chances if you have the authentic situation evaluation and the possession of the planning knowledge. In this case you can start to work for the development of the rural areas and villages” – indicates Gábor Ónodi - the expert of the rural development.

According to his profession he would like to be “not only a preserver but a creator, a good master” of the country. Gellért Szabó believes to begin the flourish of the Hungarian villages according to the peasants’ persistence.

The freedom and wildness of farming life captured him at his early ages. Not only his childhood fasten him to his native village Szentkirály in Bács-Kiskun County. “At that time much more farm were situated around the village. Despite the big distances between the farmyards there used to be close and deep relationships between the local people. This changed my youth into idyllic by magic” – said Mr. Szabó.

Though he was talented playing cello and singing his interest turned into scientific subjects. He studied at the Animal Husbandry College, Hódmezővásárhely. As a stockman engineer he started his career at the Lászlófalvi Egyetértés LPG. While working for the LPG he got a diploma as an animal sanitary engineer. In 1990 he became the mayor of Szentkirály.

Body of representatives of Szentkirály decided to join into the Magyar Faluszövetség (Association of Hungarian Villages). Mr. Szabó was asked to manage international tasks and represent Hungary in Strasbourg at the committee meetings of the European Council. ”During the past 14 years I’ve seen great poverty and also lavish riches at the neighbouring and farther countries. I’ve suggested with success an individual proposal to safeguard the local, the cultural and scenic values.”
For him the countryside represents the future hope of Hungary. He believes to begin the flourish of the Hungarian villages according to the peasants’ persistence. ”As a farmer and a kind of peasant-mayor I believe that a village is a very good place for true rendezvous either for a personal or public affair reasons. As the member of HNRN presidency I would like to meet with a lot of country man. Give an occasion and environment to increase our values at the worthy place” – outlines Mr. Szabó his plans.