Who we are?
RETECORK came into being thanks to an initial meeting of cork-producing territories which was held in Palafrugell in October 2006, formed by 46 members of the public and 11 speakers and where the Palafrugell Charter, was approved, which promoted the constitution of an Association of Cork-Producing Collectives at a European level.
In April 2007, RETECORK, the European Network of Cork-Producing Territories was formally constituted in Cassà de la Selva. It was initially formed by 23 members from Spain, Portugal, Italy and France with the objective of constituting a platform for the knowledge, promotion and development of the cork culture, from the local administrations and for the social and economic development of the towns, with representatives of communities traditionally linked to cork production, transformation and commercialisation.
Objectives and lines of work
The aim of this platform is to work on:
- Defending the interests of cork-producing territories with the aim of contributing to their sustainable development from a social, economic, cultural and environmental perspective.
- Ensuring that the cork-producing activity, which has been a source of wealth in our towns for more than two centuries, continues to be an important resource of local development.
- Setting up joint work strategies in the area of economic promotion, promoting employment and competitiveness and the reciprocal opening up of international markets.
To comply with the objectives, the following lines of work are proposed:
- To propose and defend the adoption of support and improvement measures with regard to the competitiveness of this activity before the public administrations.
- To create platforms which facilitate the relationship and the scientific, technological, economic, cultural and social interchange between the associated territories.
- To promote studies and preliminary reports for launching community initiatives, directives, etc. concerning cork.
- To provide members with periodical information about announcements for programmes, subsidies, etc. promoted by national, european and international institutions and to facilitate the submitting of joint projects.
- To promote actions in the areas of professional training and the labour market, as well as actions linked to industrial development, town planning, culture and the environment.
- Take part and/or to promote campaigns to inform about the values of this product (quality alimentary health and safety respect to the environment…).
Governing bodies
The governing bodies of RETECORK are configured as follows:
The Assembly is the highest representative body of the Network and is directed by a Table that consists of:
- Presidency: Ayuntamiento de San Vicente de Alcántara
- Vice Presidency: Mairie de Maureillas-Las Illas
- Secretary: Comune di Calangianus
It is the responsible for the administration and direct management of the activities carried out by the Network:
- Presidency: Câmara Municipal de Coruche
- Vice Presidency: Ayuntamiento de Palafrugell
- Vice Presidency: AMPV, Associação de Municípios Portugueses do Vinho
- Vice Presidency: Comune di Calangianus
- Vice Presidency: Mairie de Vivès
Its function is to supervise the accounts of the Network and present them to the General Assembly:
- Presidency: Câmara Municipal de Silves
The structure of RETECORK is of a federative nature as each country is represented on the Executive Committee by a national deputy chairperson, which means that the actions of the network at a general level will be compatible with the development of the specific projects of each country.
HEAD OFFICE
Centro Cultural Bassa Rocas
Irene Rocas 1
17124 Llofriu (Girona), Spain
+34 972 303 360
retecork@retecork.org