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Learn how the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development has contributed to tackling biodiversity loss by turning a farm into a nature reserve. The Golashane Farm Nature Reserve in Ireland was short-listed for the ENRD Rural Inspiration Awards of 2019.

Find more good practices on biodiversity in the ENRD Project Database.

The 14^th meeting of the National Rural Networks (NRNs) – 12-13 June 2019 in Bucharest, Romania – explored connections to project beneficiaries particularly through Local Action Groups (LAGs).

Participants heard some inspiring project examples from Romanian LAGs, discussed cooperation ideas that can be developed by NRN’s working together in geographical clusters on topics of joint interest. The meeting concluded by working on developing some of the inspirational ideas from the networX event in April 2019, looking at developing future plans and building on best practices.

The latest meeting of the ENRD Thematic Group (TG) on Smart Villages – 6 June 2019 in Lormes, France – offered the opportunity to explore how this village in the Burgundy region used a participative process to co-design a ‘village of the future’.

Throughout the on-site visit, participants witnessed the different aspects of the digital ecosystem created in the area within the context of the French approach to digitalising rural areas. They further exchanged and learnt from similar initiatives and plans in other Member States such as the Spanish and German examples, and the Irish initiative in Donegal. The meeting was organised back to back with the ERUDITE final conference.

You can further explore digitalisation case studies and briefings on the ENRD Smart Villages Portal.

Receiving the ENRD monthly newsletter and ENRD publications is easier than ever thanks to our new subscription tool!

This new ‘Subscribe’ feature on the ENRD website home page allows you to choose the publication you want to receive (Newsletter, EU Rural Review, Rural Connections Magazine, EAFRD Projects Brochure or Evaluation Helpdesk publications), the format (digital or printed) and language (EN, DE, ES, FR, IT or PL).

A new report by ECOLISE, provides evidence of local community-led initiatives identifying basic preconditions for sustainable prosperity in Europe.

These initiatives are bringing effective solutions to the global threats of climate and ecological breakdown, delivering a much broader set of benefits than technological solutions focussed only on reducing carbon emissions.

A new online platform, SmartREDR, was recently launched by REDR, the Spanish LEADER network, aiming to encourage cooperation among rural stakeholders.

The platform brings together rural actors and universities, research centres, tech companies and local authorities, to connect and collaborate for the development of rural territories.  The development of this innovative platform is closely linked to the concept of Smart Villages, contributing to improving the quality of life in rural areas.

This year’s EU Digital Day enabled EU Member States to pool resources to accelerate digital developments in agriculture and rural areas, among others.

25 EU Member States signed the declaration on ‘a smart and sustainable digital future for European agriculture and rural areas’, recognising the potential of digital technologies to tackle urgent economic, social, climate and environmental challenges facing the EU's agri-food sector and rural areas.

See the dedicated section on ENRD website for digitisation of rural areas and the EIP-AGRI website on digitising agriculture.

An external study published by the European Commission analysed the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU-added value of the climate action of certain key CAP measures.

The study shows that thanks to CAP support, the agricultural sector has made efforts over time to adapt its practices, while being able to preserve the European family farm model and its diversity and prevent potentially damaging land abandonment in rural areas. The study makes the case for a stronger common agricultural policy for climate action.

Finnish experts from the ProAgria Oulu region advisory service visited the ENRD Contact Point and the Walloon Rural Network in May 2019, within the context of the 3rd meeting of the ENRD Thematic Group on Bioeconomy.

Over 16 000 Finnish farms have already benefitted from RDP grants of €10 000 each for advisory services on all topics, from greening measures to animal welfare, farm modernisation, competitiveness and energy efficiency. 

A successful ProAgria example was the Oulu Bioeconomy Leader Tour, that reached over 2 000 contacts and resulted in 55 rural SMEs investing in the bioeconomy. 

A recent fi-compass publication describes a technical assistance initiative to support rural infrastructure and Smart Villages development, aiming to better inform EAFRD managing authorities about the use of financial instruments.

The use of innovative financial instruments and their efficient combination with EAFRD or EIB financing could boost investment levels in rural Europe, ensuring the sustainability of rural infrastructure financing in the medium to long-term. This responds to local needs by involving local partnerships such as LAGs and could help the development of the Smart Villages concept across the whole EU.

The initiative is promoted by the European Commission Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) in collaboration with the European Investment Bank (EIB).

A short and informative leaflet on LEADER Cooperation in Région Sud-Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France has been published in English and French by the Regional Rural Network.

The leaflet gives an introduction to LEADER and how integral cooperation within the territory and transnationally is, including its benefit to rural areas. It provides a list of useful contacts and an overview of priorities for actions and eligibility conditions. The value of cooperation is highlighted, in strengthening networks, addressing similar issues and challenges and developing joint initiatives.

In the 2014–2020 programming period, 37 Local Action Groups (LAGs) were formed in Slovenia, covering areas with common local needs and challenges in order to attain the objectives of local development strategies.

The Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food has issued a brochure of Slovenian LAGs, presenting general and specific data on the implementation of RDP Measure 19 - LEADER/CLLD in the country and a map of the LAGs with details on their objectives and projects. The publication is also available in English.