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Explore various outputs and highlights from the Cork 2.0 European Conference on Rural Development, 5-6 September 2016.

Read the resulting Cork 2.0 Declaration setting out ten policy orientations for “an innovative, integrated and inclusive rural and agricultural policy in the European Union”.

See also the special edition ENRD newsletter presenting Conference highlights (now available in French and German), watch the plenary sessions, review selected content from the Twitter feed and watch promotional videos presented at the event.

Over 300 rural development stakeholders participated at the Conference providing views, inputs and ideas on the main opportunities and barriers facing agricultural communities, well as recommendations on the policies needed to unleash the potential of rural areas.

Keep up to date with the latest agriculture and rural development news and events from across Europe via the improved tools available on the ENRD website.

You can now search for upcoming national, European and international events and browse through the latest news from the rural networks, EU institutions and stakeholder organisations.

Share your news and events with the rest of Europe, write to us at editor@enrd.eu.

Read the ENRD presentation booklet in your language and share it with rural development stakeholders in your country.

The booklet explains how networking activities through the ENRD can enable the best possible outcomes in the context of the EU’s Rural Development policy. It is now available for online download in 23 European languages.

Get involved in the new four-year (2016-2020) research project ‘SIMRA’ on social innovation and innovative governance in marginalised rural areas across Europe.

Funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovative Programme, SIMRA aims to advance understanding and take up of social innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural development in marginalised rural areas. The project leaders call on you to join their workshops, share good practices and follow them online!

The European Rural Parliament (ERP) is happy to announce that it has secured the funding it needs to launch the next phase of its campaign, which will lead to the third European Rural Parliament in October 2017.

The € 150 000 grant from the Europe for Citizens programme will support the campaign’s efforts to ‘Strengthen Participation Among Rural People in Europe’ (SPARCE). The ERP 2016-17 Action Programme will be structured around six key themes from the European Rural Manifesto:

• Communal action to sustain rural services
• Enabling young people to find a good life in the countryside
• Welcoming immigrants and refugees into rural areas
• Enlisting the participation, and meeting the needs, of socially excluded citizens
• Strengthening rural economies
• Integrated rural development.

Keep up to date with developments by signing up to receive the ERP newsletter.

A new factsheet released by DG AGRI in the context of the Cork 2.0 conference of 5-6 September 2016 collects facts and figures on rural development in the European Union.

The publication contains aggregate EU data on expected achievements in areas such as knowledge transfer and innovation; farm viability and competitiveness; food chain organisation; biodiversity; water and soil management; resource efficiency; job creation etc. It further overviews rural development budget and features such as risk management, multi-funded CLLD and Financial Instruments in the 2014-2020 programming period.

A new guidance by the European Commission overviews and gives advice on the selection of bodies to implement Financial Instruments (FIs) using the European Structural & Investment Funds (ESI Funds).

The guide is intended for Managing Authorities who wish to entrust FIs implementation tasks to other bodies as specified in Article 38(4)(b) of the Common Provisions Regulation. The guidance is available in 23 EU languages.

The European research project ‘PEGASUS’ has published 34 case studies on land management practices to improve the provision of public goods and ecosystem services.

The PEGASUS team researched innovative land management approaches in diverse situations - from intensive tomato production in Italy to forest restoration in Czech Republic - across ten European countries. The team will continue to explore the nature and characteristics of the solutions that have enabled local actors to develop successful approaches.

A new briefing by the European Parliament’s Think Tank overviews short supply chains and local food systems in the European Union (EU).

The publication examines the benefits and weakness of short supply chains, as well as barriers to their implementation. The briefing looks at local food systems in the context of the 2014-2020 Rural Development policy and the various Measures that can be used to support their development.

A new study by the European Parliament’s Think Tank examines how the EU’s external actions have impacted on support for EU agriculture and rural areas through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The publication overviews how the CAP has been influenced by successive EU enlargements, as well as trade and aid policies with neighbouring and developing countries. It goes on to examine the strongest pressures on the CAP at present stemming from a new generation of Free Trade Agreements, the need to reduce agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions and to respond to Brexit.

Explore a wide range of tools and best practices on Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in the dedicated toolbox of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The collection of tools includes: audio-visual material; manuals and guidelines; various databases, e-learning courses and software; and case studies. Resources are classified under themes such as agroforestry, climate change adaptation and mitigation, reducing deforestation, and many others.

Two awards recognising quality land management practices and tools are accepting applications until 31 December 2016.

The Land and Soil Management Award aims to reward and highlight practices which contribute to achieving the EU's soil protection goals. The Anders Wall Award is for individuals who have made a special contribution to the rural environment, heritage or economy in the EU. Both are run by the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) and its partners.