Partnership Overview
Across the Black Sea Basin, agriculture faces a defining challenge: droughts, water scarcity, and heatwaves are intensifying, threatening the livelihoods of farming communities and the food security of entire regions. Responding to this shared reality, the ADAPTAGRI project — full title: Interregional Cooperation for Adaptation to Climate in Agriculture (Grant Contract BSB 01250) — brings together three organisations from Türkiye, Bulgaria, and Greece under the Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme 2021–2027, co-funded by the European Union. With a total budget of 513,814 Euro and an 18-month implementation period, ADAPTAGRI is a focused, action-oriented initiative that turns the ambition of cross-border cooperation into concrete results for farmers and rural communities.
The partnership unites three regions with distinct agricultural profiles but a common urgency: the TR21 Thrace Region of Türkiye, the Dobrudzha and Bulgarian Black Sea Basin, and the Evros region of northern Greece. Together, they represent a cross-section of the challenges and opportunities facing field crop agriculture in Southeast Europe — from large mechanised holdings on Bulgaria’s fertile chernozem plains, to the diverse arable landscapes of Greek Thrace, to the rapidly modernising farming sector of Turkish Thrace. What unites them is the recognition that climate adaptation cannot be achieved in isolation, and that knowledge exchange, technology transfer, and joint action are the most powerful tools available to rural regions facing a shared climate crisis.
Across its 18-month lifespan, ADAPTAGRI will deliver a drone-based smart farming pilot in the Thrace Region, transnational training and capacity building programmes for farmers and agricultural professionals, regional research and policy analyses, and a cross-border BSB Smart and Green Agriculture Platform for ongoing knowledge sharing. This is cooperation in practice — not just between institutions, but between regions, between communities, and between countries that share common borders and common solutions.
“Common borders. Common solutions.”
Key Statistics
- Budget €513,814
- Duration 18 Months
- Partners 3 Countries
Trakya Development Agency (TRAKYAKA)
Türkiye
Overview
Established in 2009, Trakya Development Agency (TRAKYAKA) is the statutory regional development authority for the TR21 Thrace Region — encompassing the provinces of Tekirdag, Edirne, and Kirklareli. Strategically positioned at Turkey’s westernmost tip, bordering EU member states Bulgaria and Greece, the Thrace Region serves as a vital bridge between Turkey and Europe.
Its economy is grounded in agriculture and manufacturing, with agricultural production spread across the region and a strong industrial corridor along the Corlu-Cerkezkoy-Luleburgaz axis. Since its foundation, TRAKYAKA has played a central role in the socio-economic development of the region — supporting public institutions, the private sector, universities, and civil society organisations through planning, programming, and coordination across key sectors including agriculture, food, tourism, industry, technology, entrepreneurship, and logistics.
The agency maintains Investment Support Offices in all three provinces and delivers services in five languages, reflecting its strong international and cross-border orientation.
Within ADAPTAGRI, TRAKYAKA coordinates the overall project implementation, ensuring efficient management, communication, and compliance with Interreg NEXT guidelines. Its Agricultural and Rural Development Unit leads pilot implementations in the TR21 Region, bringing deep institutional knowledge of rural innovation, smart agriculture, and regional policy to the partnership.
A central element of ADAPTAGRI’s work in the Thrace Region is the smart farming pilot application coordinated directly by TRAKYAKA. Conducted within the TR21 Region, this on-the-ground demonstration leverages drone technology to promote smart and sustainable agricultural practices — delivering practical innovations in water and input-use optimisation, yield forecasting, and in-field crop monitoring. This pilot serves as a replicable model for climate-adaptive farming across the Black Sea Basin.
As Lead Partner, TRAKYAKA is uniquely positioned to translate the outcomes of ADAPTAGRI — developed over an 18-month project lifecycle with a total budget of 513,814 Euro, co-financed under the Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme — into actionable regional strategies, reinforcing the Thrace Region’s role as a model of sustainable, cross-border development.
Dobrudzha Agrarian and Business School (DABS)
Bulgaria
Founded in 2004, DABS is a civil society association rooted in the Dobrudzha region of northeastern Bulgaria — one of the country’s most agriculturally productive areas and widely known as its “breadbasket.”
Bordering the Danube, the Black Sea, and Romania, Dobrudzha is characterised by highly fertile chernozem soils, large mechanised holdings, and a strong tradition of grain and oilseed cultivation. This makes the Bulgarian Black Sea Basin a region of exceptional strategic importance for food security — and a place where climate adaptation in agriculture is both urgent and consequential.
Within ADAPTAGRI, DABS leads capacity building and training activities, drawing on its expertise as a licensed Vocational Education and Training (VET) centre. DABS delivers workshops, online courses, and joint mentoring programmes focused on climate-resilient agriculture and digital innovation — reaching over 100 enrolled trainees and more than 1,000 learners to date.
DABS brings to the partnership a strong cross-border cooperation orientation, with a proven track record in EU-funded projects including AGREEN, RECALL, and IMCAP. Its core expertise spans agriculture and food systems, applied research, and social entrepreneurship — making it an indispensable bridge between knowledge and practice.
Rural Research and Development Company of North Evros S.A. (EEABE)
Greece
EEABE — the Rural Research and Development Company of North Evros — represents the Greek dimension of ADAPTAGRI, bringing indispensable local expertise from one of the most agriculturally rich and strategically significant border regions in Southeast Europe.
The Evros region serves as a key pilot territory within the project, where the real-world impact of ADAPTAGRI’s climate-resilient approaches can be observed and measured. With over 32,000 thousand stremmas of cultivated land, a diverse production landscape spanning durum wheat, maize, cotton, olives, and seasonal vegetables, Evros exemplifies both the vulnerabilities and the opportunities that define agriculture across the Black Sea Basin.
EEABE’s longstanding engagement with farmers, rural businesses, and local institutions makes it an irreplaceable link between research and practice. Its presence in the partnership ensures that ADAPTAGRI’s outputs are grounded in the real needs of farming communities.
Together with its partners, EEABE demonstrates that frontier regions can be engines of innovation, resilience, and sustainable development, ensuring the region’s voice is heard within the broader European framework of transnational cooperation.
Cooperation Network
The ADAPTAGRI partnership is built on a carefully balanced structure that brings together three organisations with distinct yet deeply complementary roles — each anchored in a region where climate change poses real and pressing challenges to agriculture.
TRAKYAKA
Lead Partner & Coordinator: Serves as the institutional backbone, ensuring efficient management and financial oversight.
Leads the flagship smart farming pilot in the TR21 Thrace Region, leveraging 15+ years of experience in innovation to turn policy into lasting regional impact.
DABS
Knowledge & Training Lead: Anchored in Bulgaria’s “breadbasket,” DABS coordinates all capacity building activities.
Leveraging its licensed VET centre and broad network, it designs the mentoring programmes that bring ADAPTAGRI’s knowledge directly to farmers and decision-makers.
EEABE
Research & Field Expert: Anchors the project in the rich arable landscapes of the Evros region.
Links project outputs to the lived realities of farming communities, ensuring frontier regions have a strong voice in shaping climate-resilient agriculture across the Black Sea Basin.
"Together, TRAKYAKA, DABS, and EEABE form a transnational alliance for smart, green, and resilient agriculture. Spanning Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece — three countries united by shared climate challenges."
With a total project budget of 513,814 Euro co-financed by the European Union, ADAPTAGRI demonstrates that cross-border cooperation can generate meaningful change for farming communities across the Black Sea Basin.