When we were starting Rotterzwam we had a lot of questions, questions that don’t get answered in a book or on the Internet. That’s why visited Ivanka at Sistem Ekofungi. During our visit she showed the low tech techniques she used, the low cost growing units and a revolutionary way of pasteurizing the substrate. Ivanka is both a scientist and an entrepreneur, a combination you rarely see. The combination of her 27 years of experience as an entrepreneur and the scientific part is very valuable resource of information. I can strongly recommend going to this traineeship.

I was very happy when I heard about the Ekofungi school. Ivanka Milenkovic is one of the leading experts of the Blue Economy, and especially the mushroom production on waste, and I believe the school will contribute to the faster spread of the Blue Economy around the world. Ivanka’s enthusiasm and competency is a definite guarantee for the quality of the school – a type of validation. She is able to properly share the knowledge and experience with all who are willing to set up similar or any kind of the mushroom project. I strongly promote the foundation of this school and highly recommend for all those, who are really interested in the Blue Economy principles and would like to do something really useful in practice.

Ivanka acquainted me with all mushroom growing knowledge she has within a very short time frame. The learning journey has been eye-opening for a total new grower. The hands-on experiences give me a great base to explore the growing possibilities in Taiwan.

After five days with Ivanka and staff at Ekofungi, I went from being clueless about mushroom-growing to having a precise, practical plan of how to implement my project in Paris. It was a precious educational experience to have lectures on the basics of mushroom biology, to hear about various mushroom-growing case studies, to discuss feasibility and setup of my own project–including aspects of the business plan, and to observe Ekofungi’s production operations. Their combination of research and commercial production also helped me understand the wider context of international mushroom-growing. Last and not least, it was a pleasure to meet professionals who appreciate the value of active, international social networks!

With a big thank you, I dedicate this to our teacher Ivanka for all the “meraki” she has put throughout the years in her mushroom business. She definitely communicated her Mushroom Meraki on to us. We need it to survive and thrive. Meraki: To do something with soul, creativity or love, leaving a piece of yourself in to what you are doing.

I just returned from this course [March 2018]. It was a wonderful experience and gave me an excellent base and framework to begin working with mushrooms in production, education and restoration. The hosts and course leaders are generous with information and time and you will get to see a good bit of Belgrade and its surroundings also! Grateful for the opportunity.

It was a great experience. I started with no competence when I arrived and I came back home able to grow mushrooms in a very easy and sustainable way. The course gave to me the elements to understand if I can turn a passion in a job. In my case, it will remain a magic passion. So.. target reached! In addition to this, the instructors were all very kindly, lovely, welcoming and qualified. Thanks for all.

Ivanka Milenkovic is such a source of inspiration! Our new project in Northern Italy is powered by Ekofungi! Ekofungi is very open and extremely professional. Academic and practical instruction was very precious. With Ekofungi you will have fun with special people while gathering precious information for concrete implementation.