AGROTIKOS SYNETAIRISMOS STEBIA ELLAS

Their core work

Agricultural Cooperative Stevia Hellas is a Greek farming cooperative based in Lamia (Central Greece) that grows and processes stevia — a natural sweetener crop. In H2020 projects, they serve as a real-world rural enterprise partner, providing practical insight into how agricultural cooperatives operate in structurally weak regions. Their value in EU consortia lies in being a living example of social entrepreneurship in rural Greece, contributing ground-level experience on farmer wellbeing, community-based agriculture, and social innovation challenges that researchers study but rarely experience firsthand.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early projects (2016-2018) focused on understanding social entrepreneurship and social enterprise models in structurally weak rural regions, essentially studying how rural areas can generate innovation despite economic disadvantage. By 2021, the focus shifted toward farmer wellbeing and mental health — moving from structural/economic analysis to the human dimension of rural life. This evolution suggests a deepening engagement: from being studied as a rural enterprise case, to actively contributing to solutions for the people behind farming.

Moving from passive case-study participant toward active engagement in farmer welfare and social support systems — future collaborations likely in agri-social innovation and rural community resilience.

How they like to work

They never lead projects — all participation is as a partner or third party, which is typical for a cooperative contributing practical experience rather than research capacity. With 30 unique partners across 13 countries from just 3 projects, they plug into large, multi-country consortia rather than small focused teams. This makes them an accessible, low-overhead partner for academics and research institutes who need a real agricultural cooperative as a testbed or practice partner.

Despite only 3 projects, they have connected with 30 partners across 13 countries — a wide European network built through large MSCA and CSA consortia. Their connections span academic institutions studying rural development across Eastern and Western Europe.

What sets them apart

They are one of very few actual agricultural cooperatives — not research institutes, not consultancies — participating in H2020 social innovation research. This gives them authenticity that academic partners cannot replicate: they live the rural challenges that others study. For any consortium needing a genuine grassroots rural enterprise in Southern/Eastern Europe, particularly in alternative crops like stevia, they offer a rare practice-based perspective.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FARMWELL
  Their largest funded project (EUR 58,344) and a thematic shift into farmer mental health — a growing policy priority in the EU's CAP reform discussions.
• RurInno
  Their entry into H2020, directly studying social innovation models in weak rural regions — establishing them as a practice partner for rural development research.