Implementation of the Blue Butterfly Region micro-regional brand
An innovative method of promoting a rural micro-region in Romania got its name Blue Butterfly Region. With long-term vision, this follow-up project aimed to raise awareness and strengthen the sense of belonging of the brand and the territory and also to increase brand visibility among locals and visitors. A community of local people has been connected, empowered and developed, as well as creative workshops, educational friendly materials and outdoor experiences around the butterfly symbol.
Local
Romania
12 rural municipalities from Cluj county: Alunis, Apahida, Bobâlna, Bonțida, Borșa, Cornești, Dăbâca, Iclod, Jucu, Mintiu Gherlii, Sic and Vultureni.
Mainly rural
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Yes
EAFRD : European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development
LEADER programme, through GAL SOMEȘ TRANSILVAN (LAG) local strategy, 2020
No
Yes
2022-05-20
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Plaiuri Noi Association Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Raluca-Dorina Last name of representative: Bojan Gender: Female Nationality: Romania If relevant, please select your other nationality: Romania Function: President Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Câmpului street, nr. 231, ap. 2 Town: Cluj-Napoca Postal code: 400686 Country: Romania Direct Tel:+40 749 850 923 E-mail:raluca@plaiurinoi.ro Website:https://tinutulflutureluialbastru.ro/
Context: In 2019, a rural micro-region of 12 rural municipalities from Cluj county, Romania, got a noble and metaphorical name ‘’ Blue Butterfly Region’’, through a one-year branding process. A unique element was found here: this land is the only one in Europe where all species of Maculinea butterflies can be found together. These butterflies need a combination of elements to live: natural elements (meadows, a specific plant, a species of ant) and responsible human intervention. The name and its logo became a registered trademark. The logo ties together the main elements of this land and it makes it a coherent story about heritage, nature, and human responsible actions.
This project: Launching a new name for a rural area was an innovative method of promoting a micro-region in Romania but it needed to be continued in order to be embraced by the local community and the general public.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkW6oFgLIb8
This follow-up project aimed to raise awareness and strengthen the sense of belonging of the brand and the area and also to increase brand visibility through two main objectives:
1. Involving the local community in the process of implementing the Blue Butterfly Region brand to strengthen the local identity
2. Enhancing the local heritage and increasing the attractiveness of the territory.
The activities we implemented in two years led to valuable results and effects that multiplied beyond the project. The local community was involved in events (networking meetings, demonstrative tour, seed bombs workshop) that were organized around important themes: local heritage, environment protection, biodiversity, ecotourism, local food, and cooperation:. We also promoted the values of this territory through various activities: online and offline promoting (website, social media, promotional materials), a children’s book about the amazing life cycle of Maculinea, recording natural sounds, and an augmented reality point in the territory.
Environmental protection
Community
Heritage conservation
Ecotourism
Belonging to rural areas
One cornerstone of the Blue Butterfly Region is natural heritage, especially focusing on the preservation and care of unique elements of biodiversity. The existing pastures in this area have been shaped in time by traditional agricultural activities, in this way creating favorable conditions to host 4 living species of the protected Maculinea Butterfly in the same small habitat.
The main approach on raising awareness about the natural value of the area for people (either locals, either tourists) has been explored through participatory and experiential experiences, bringing together valuable information and emotional engagement:
- Creation of an educational book for children
Considering the sustainable development of the area and the fact that younger generations are the ones who will be able to preserve and sustainably develop the specific elements of the territory, we considered it necessary to write and publish the story of the Maculinea Blue Butterfly in a Children’s book format.
- Making seedbombs with seeds originating from the local meadows, an educational handy activity
- Bringing people closer to the nature elements through sound recordings from the region and the possibility to see Maculinea Blue Butterfly any time of the year through augmented reality
- Making people spend time in the nature and in rural villages by joining educational guided tours
- Promoting local food and producers that work with nature in their local productions
All of the activities were built around the Maculinea Butterfly, not only to inform the people of its precious existence, its complex metamorphosis process, but also to understand the need to protect it. The presence of the Maculinea butterfly in this area is a guarantee of a clean, unpolluted and suitable place for the production of local products. The life cycle of this butterfly depends firstly on a very specific ecosystem and secondly on the impact of humans and animals on the environment/ the pastures.
The beauty of the villages and the people, their history and cultures and all the impressive nature and diverse biodiversity were the main ingredients for our favorite approach: storytelling. Every place deserves the opportunity to know its identity and find its story to exist and be promoted in the world. Not only the children need stories, but also the inhabitants of this area need a symbol and context that brings them together.
A marketing strategy has been developed to increase visibility and meaning of the Blue Butterfly Region for the local community and for the general online and offline public. The real need was to inform and make the community aware of the value and utility of the brand and its applications in fields such as: ecotourism, education, local identity, and entrepreneurship.
Creative design has been incorporated into the website, starting from the comprehensive colorful map of the micro-region with natural, cultural heritage sites, existing NGOs, local experiences for the visitors, to the flow of detailed pages on the project, the detailed sightseeings, butterflies story, community engagement.
The already existing symbol of the Region comprised in the logo, the photographs were integrated in physical promotional materials with unique designs (t-shirts, tote bags, flags, roll-ups, pins, postcards, brochures).
Sensorial human capacities have been integrated in order to make people explore the nature differently and connect themselves better through emotions, instead of theory and knowledge.
By touch and smell through the creation of the seedbombs with seeds of the local meadows.
By sight of Maculinea Butterfly in augmented reality.
By hear of the recorded sounds of the Region.
Aesthetics through all of the above mentioned tools is essential in the facilitation of a participatory and experiential community building with a clear symbol.
The local identity includes a diversity of cultural traditions inherited by each ethnic group in the area. The history of the Hungarian nobles, the Hungarian dance houses, the skills of the Roma singers, as well as the history of the Armenians and Jews nearby, have all merged over time with the Romanian culture of this area. Blue Butterfly Region is emphasising openness to the traditions and heritage of different ethnic groups.
We honored the multicultural aspect of the area by communicating in both Romanian and Hungarian languages on social media and in press interviews. The children’s book was also released in both languages.
The children’s book is the story of this area from a human and nature co-habitation perspective, the focus on the Maculinea butterfly symbol is as a strong binding element that brings homogeneity to human and nature rights. Exposing constantly this positive relationship between the existence of Maculinea Butterflies and humans in the same rural territory highlights the holistic aspect of the ecosystem in which we should care for, protect and value nature.
The principle of inclusivity has been very important in order to open the participation for people regardless their gender, religion, nationality, socio-economic status, on a first come first served basis. Diversity of participants profile was fostered and we had local producers, entrepreneurs, experts, NGO representatives, young people with initiative, or other people from the community joined together the activities by sharing perspectives, and experiences and developing collaboration bridges.
The presence and interest of the local community at activities exceeded the number we initially planned. We visited and discussed directly with 26 persons, 47 local citizens participated in the networking events, 16 adults participated in the seed bomb workshop,10 at the demonstrative tour, and 50 local citizens at the final event. Our physical meetings and events counted the presence of 149 local citizens, involved in discussions over important themes for the area: ecotourism, biodiversity, local products, a common label for products and events, collaboration, and cooperation.
Through social media over 80.000 people were reached, and some of the posts gained over 12.000 reaches.
The project has indirectly benefited the whole community of the Blue Butterfly Region (39.226 people), by developing a sense of belonging through involving representatives in the activities and at the same time by presenting the territory attractively and appealingly to the potential visitors, buyers, or investors.
One of the biggest benefits that were generated beyond the project is the social capital that has been built around the blue label and the fact that people got to know each other, establish some common rules, collaborate, and meet constantly under the name of Blue Butterfly Community. Today, the Blue Butterfly Community sums 48 people from various domains such as local food, services, tourism, agriculture, etc. New partnerships have been created for local festivals, local food markets in the rural areas, but also in the cities nearby, Christmas local packages and experiences ideas.
A collective result of the brand, the logo, and the final story has been accomplished through the common involvement of all possible stakeholders from the micro-region, from local to public and private institutions, NGOs, academia, and all the existing ancestors who shaped all the natural and cultural heritage that it is promoted now.
In the implementation of the project, we involved different stakeholders:
The children's book is based on a scientific story, and the author and illustrator received information, bibliography, and support from university professors who study butterflies.
The guided tour was organised with 2 experts (environment and tourism) and 6 tourism experts from the regional level attended the tour together with the local community.
All the events, workshops, and other activities were organised with the support of local authorities.
20 experts from different fields attended the final event of the project (from local, regional and national levels).
LAG Somes Transilvan offered support in promoting and informing the local community about the events and activities.
Interdisciplinarity is one of the core strengths of the project’s implementation team, as each one of us has a different background and diverse competencies in writing and implementing projects on rural development, branding, storytelling, ecotourism, biodiversity protection, ethnography, socio-cultural projects in Transylvanian rural areas, youth international projects and community engagement.
Moreover, we believe that interdisciplinary projects such as the Blue Butterfly Region have the potential to connect people, biodiversity, heritage, and culture from the past, the present, and the future in order to make people aware of their heritage as a tool of sustainable development. By understanding what is happening around us from a holistic perspective, a culture of care and respect for our resources, our lands, the flora and fauna, the food we harvest, and the people. Besides this, teamwork with all the stakeholders from different fields (biologists, historians, farmers, tourism agents, civil servants, teachers, locals, event planners, and NGO people) has brought a complex reality of what The Blue Butterfly Region is. The name comes also from the colour of the river Someș that flows through it, from the stories of blue-blooded nobles in the many castles around, from the traditional blue houses with volcanic stone shrines, from the electric lights of festivals, or from the fields planted with lavender and berries. In addition to the nature and heritage, what makes this area unique is a community of skilled people who give colour and authenticity to the place. All these understandings could not have been possible without having multiple perspectives from each different field. Observing nature, we can see that diversity is necessary for a healthy ecosystem, so it should be preserved among the human world.
Tangible results have been a priority, to give a sense to the brand and bring the community together around a symbol.
The website and the social media channels were created as a main source of information and promotion, but also as a bridge to deep connection for the public (locals, visitors, stakeholders) with the actual physical territory. They became an integral part of the many unseen stories of the Region, constantly displaying information on the history, natural and cultural heritage, possible experiences, and the people living there.
From an ordinary rural area that metamorphosed in a Blue Butterfly Region, changed the perspective of the locals living, working, and studying, firstly by being aware of the unique natural and cultural heritage, secondly by integrating the learnings in their daily activities. The desired impact of our project was to empower locals to engage together for the best of the environment around and for themselves, thus the trademark created, and all the networking lead to the creation of the Blue Butterfly Community, evolving till today.
People that never met before, were connected through this project and become partners, friends, food market neighbours and creators of local experiences for the public. Social capital, active participation, solidarity, and trust have been fostered among them and this is very important for a new evolving community on unitary values.
For the first time, the butterfly story through the children’s book arrived at the schools and large community of the region to bring awareness from the younger generations to the older ones. We focused on other promotional materials that reached the local community, but also visitors (postcards, stickers, guides of the land).
All that was created in the project has been informing the importance of nature preservation, especially the Maculinea Butterfly ecosystem and the existing cultural heritage as a care value among humans and environment, either locals or public.
Creating a project to raise awareness of the local community on material and immaterial local values under a new micro-region brand is in itself an innovative approach for the territory, but also for Romania. The multidisciplinary approach of the project team, by combining visual, marketing, and promotion elements with elements of concrete community involvement, has an innovative character in the field and ensures sustainable development of the territory.
Innovation and the integration of new trends in the project ensure that we talk about the rural environment and emphasise local values (the value of the natural, heritage, and cultural heritage of villages) in a current, modern language. Three activities have been built out of the creative desire to popularize the Blue Butterfly Region and enhance the natural heritage through other innovative channels or tools, either low-tech or high-tech.
1. Seed bombs workshop
Only wildflower seeds from the meadows, a bit of water, and ground could explain through handmade seed bomb creation the importance of preserving the environment to keep this special ecosystem for future generations of butterflies and also human beings.
2. Archive of sounds
Taking into account the increasing popularity of background sounds for various moments of work or relaxation and their beneficial effect on concentration, we registered sounds from the region. These can draw attention to the biodiversity of the area by rendering the varied soundscape (sounds of insects, birds, rustling vegetation), but also preserve these site-specific impressions for the future.
3. Augmented Reality concept
On the top of a hill from the Blue Butterfly Region, you can see the Maculinea Butterflies all year using a mobile phone, thanks to the AR technology we implemented in this project.
Beyond being modern and innovative, these three elements were constructed around sustainability and access to nature without destroying its biodiversity.
The methodology of our association to sustainable development of local brands or rural micro-regions is research, promotion, and activation of local experiences.
In this follow-up project of the brand ‘’Blue Butterfly Region’’, the focus is on promotion and activation of local experiences in depth through a variety of activities.
Also, a participatory approach is emphasised in all the activities, from design to implementation and evaluation in order to empower the locals to take action and become an active and autonomous community. Another important approach is to build everything for a long-term impact, meaning that all the small steps done in this project, can connect further on and get valuable in time true concrete actions.
Storytelling is another cornerstone approach, as people involve emotionally more if they are part of the story, either the community, either the public. The children and young people, but also the adults from the territory need a reason to be proud to belong to a micro-region that knows its resources and benefits from them.
As mentioned above, we have already started to replicate our methodology of sustainable development for rural micro-regions around the city of Cluj-Napoca. This model of micro-regional development could be replicated anywhere starting from Romania to the entire world. We think that every region has its treasures and it starts with awakening the local community to be involved, proud of local heritage and to take sustainable actions.
Our methods and activities are easy to implement and do not require expensive equipment and materials. We bring the local community together around a local symbol, we listen to their needs and desire and we support them to achieve them while learning about sustainability.
Food sovereignty and security: Blue Butterfly Region, as a rural area, has the opportunity to sustain organic agricultural practices, which are already developed and encouraged to grow. The project has been mapping, documenting, and listing all the local producers from 12th rural municipalities. Their visibility in the rural micro-region grew, but also at the national level, which is shortening the food supply chain and bringing consumers aware of the local food systems available. Aiming to have resilient food systems, through local and diversified products that can sustain communities at any time.
The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced that the local product is more than a product, and in conditions of global instability, the consumer tends to purchase items that are familiar, and that support the local economy, which is based on the relationship with the producer.
Sustainable development and climate change: Fossil fuels are the main drivers of global warming. The project is highly emphasizing the local experiences, and ecotourism through walking, hiking, and cycling in the region with respect to the use of resources of the micro-region with a limited carbon footprint released in the environment. This is connected to preventing the loss of biodiversity, especially the ecosystem of Maculinea Butterflies. The region team, together with the partners of the Romanian Lepidopterological Society, insist on respecting a set of previously agreed rules that contribute to maintaining the presence of the Maculinea butterfly in our county. Among the most important recommendations we mention:
- The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are forbidden.
- Mowing can only start after 25 August.
- Mowing can be done by hand or with small mechanized machinery, heavy machinery is forbidden.
- The mown crop must be removed from the meadow surface no later than two weeks after mowing.
- Flooded pastures shall not be grazed sooner than two weeks after water
