Rural tourism with a social note, grandfather's farm with a mill processing of cereals and six members of the family devoted to sustainable farming. This is the winning combination of this year's PBB Award organized in Notranjska Regional Park within the ECO KARST project.

The awardees are:

1. Award: Symbiossis Institute (Jana Kus Veenvliet and Paul Veenvliet)

2. Award: Kmetija Andrejčič and Ecological Farm Ileršič

Symbiossis Institute - a private institution, founded by the spouses Jana Kus Veenvliet and Paul Veenvliet has been active since 2003 in the field of research and protection of nature and awareness of the importance of nature conservation. Since 2018 they also have the status of a non-governmental organization working in the public interest in the field of nature conservation. In 2016 they expanded their business to the field of tourism, and, in line with the basic mission of the organization, they focused on the development of ecotourism products. They have a license for a travel agency and market various programs of science journeys and excursions.

Kmetija Andrejčič - the family farm, which Ervin Andrejčič inherited from his current grandfather in the year 2014, who also worked on the farm. At that time, the young master certified the farm as an organic and focused on cereals and livestock production. Three years later, he began processing cereals into pulp, meal and flour, which required the purchase of a mill and a peeler. This investment was also observed by the surrounding farmers and again began to decide for the sowing of cereals. In this way, the traditional use of soil on the Cerknica field together with its typical cultural landscape is thus preserved. With its 'milling' activity, Farm Andrejčič supports local farmers who are involved in organic production. When farming livestock, the farm follows natural cycles.

Ecological Farm Ileršič - The family ecological farm, according to ecological standards, has been continuously farming since 1998 and is among the top 20 registered organic farms in Slovenia. Sustainable farming is a fundamental guideline for their business, with a six members of the family involved in the farm business. In addition to loyalty to the tradition of this area, they have been trying to introduce new, both market and food-intensive products from the very beginning. With the production of healthy, full-fat, nutritious, rich and healthy foods raise the quality of people's lives, while also keeping nature in line with the standards of organic farming.

The awardees received practical prizes worth EUR 5.000,00 in total, provided by the Interreg ECO KARST project to the Notranjska Park. These funds will enable provide entrepreneurs a feasible assistance in the realization or upgrading of environmentally friendly activities, either in the form of a service (brochure and other promotional material) or in the form of education and study tours in their field. Symbiosis Institute is entitled to a service in the equivalent of EUR 3.000,00 and the farms who are sharing the second place will be awarded with EUR 1.000,00 in services they would need.

The response to the PBB Award public call, which was limited to entrepreneurs in the area of ​​Notranjska Regional Park (municipality of Cerknica), was good. They received 12 applications in total. Some of them were quite similar and the jury had an extremely difficult task. The jury members were: Jasna Zalar (Municipality of Cerknica), Maja Mahne and Silva Šivec (Economy), Špela Habič (forestry), Miha Jernejčič (tourism), Irena Likar (nature conservation) and Jošt Stergaršek (Notranjska regional park).

With this award, Notranjska Regional Park aimed to praise and highlight the activities of the locals who devoted their lives to work that enables them to live for themselves and others, while also actively taking care of the preservation of natural and cultural heritage. With Interreg ECO KARST project, they wanted to start with the popularization of traditional nature-friendly practices in the field of agriculture and the creation of new practices in the field of tourism and forestry. One of the objectives of the Eco-Karst project is to develop a sustainable development strategy for 7 protected areas along the Danube region. The main guiding principle for this strategy is the prosperity of the inhabitants of the protected areas, while preserving the natural values in protected karst areas.