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Global Eco – InnoEco Circular Economy in the Countryside

Discover Global Eco – InnoEco, a LEADER transnational cooperation project (Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Portugal) aiming at boosting the green economy and sustainable businesses in rural areas! Relevant topics and issues being covered through the exchange of best practices between the project partners include: innovation in agriculture, waste management, biodynamic farming, renewable energy, green economy, forestry and the agri-food sector.

Find out more about this project here.

The European Commission has presented a green paper to launch a broad policy debate on the challenges and opportunities of Europe's ageing society. It sets out the impact of this pronounced demographic trend across our economy and society and invites the public to express their views on how to respond to this in a public consultation which will run until 21 April 2021. The Green Paper on Ageing also signals some territorial dimensions of the issue, including for rural areas. It is the first outcome from the Commission's June 2020 report on the impact of demographic change, and will be followed by the long-term vision for rural areas, that will also look into the question of demography.

More information is available in the press release, as well as on the dedicated EC Demography webpage.

The ENRD, in close cooperation with the European Commission, is organising a virtual event - ‘Rural Vision Week: Imagining the future of Europe’s rural areas’ between 22 and 26 March 2021.

This interactive event will include high level presentations and discussions, a marketplace, workshops and ‘fringe’ activities. These will involve European stakeholder participants working together to contribute to the preparation of a long-term vision for the future of EU rural areas in relation to which the Commission is scheduled to adopt a Communication later this summer. The registration for the Rural Vision Week will open on 26 February 2021 and more information, such as the full agenda and the programme of activities, will follow soon! Check our event page and social media channels regularly to stay up-to-date!

Download the latest Rural Connections magazine in English to read news and views from rural development stakeholders, updates on recent EU policy developments and the latest ENRD activities.

This edition focuses on the link between the environment, the new CAP and the European Green Deal and brings the finalists of the Rural Inspiration Awards 2020 – ENRD’s competition recognising EAFRD-supported projects from across the EU - back into the spotlight. The publication will soon be available in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish. 

Don't miss the next editions - subscribe to ENRD publications!

A new EU-wide Leader Evaluation, commissioned by DG AGRI and targeting Managing Authorities and Local Action Group (LAG) Managers, is currently underway. The aim is to explore the impact of LEADER on the CAP strategic goal of Balanced Territorial Development across Europe, and at the same time to find out what makes LEADER work in different contexts and how effectively it meets local needs. The study is being undertaken by a partnership of the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI, UK), the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies (ÖIR) and Analysis for Economic Decisions (ADE, Belgium), with additional support from research organisations across Europe. The survey will be open for feedback until 23 March 2021. There are two different questionnaires: one for LAG Managers and one for Management Authority personnel.

Almost one third of Europeans live in rural areas that make up over three quarters of the EU’s total land area. These areas contribute an enormous amount to European societies and culture and are also a key arena in the fight against climate change and for better resource management. The European Commission published a Results Pack featuring 9 EU-funded research projects that have been working hard to nurture rural innovation potential and positively contribute to the EU’s long-term vision for rural areas. Rural innovation potential is actually high and powered by a strong natural resource-base and community spirit, a smart utilisation of tacit knowledge and the use of cooperation and social innovation to overcome barriers, such as weaker infrastructures and services.

The OECD reports that there is increasing recognition of the crucial role played by food systems in achieving Sustainable Development Goals and its new publication titled ‘Making better policies for food systems’ explores this role. The report focuses on three sets of questions: What has been the actual performance of food systems around the world, and what has been the role of policies? How should policy makers go about designing policies that are coherent across different dimensions such as food security and nutrition, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability? What are common factors complicating the task of achieving better policies, and what can be done about them?

The ENRD CP will soon announce the shortlisted finalists for the Rural Inspiration Awards 2021 and open the on-line public voting for the Popular Vote category. Our experts selected 20 out of 125 entries based on criteria such as projects’ direct benefits, replicability, and networking value. Don’t miss your chance to vote for your choice to be winner of the Popular Vote category from amongst the 20 shortlisted projects! The online voting will start in March and will remain open until shortly before the Award ceremony which will take place during the ENRD ‘Rural Vision Week’ end of March 2021. 

This report, commissioned by the European Committee of the Regions, provides a ‘policy fitness check’ on the specific measures introduced by the European Union to alleviate the socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in rural areas.

The report analyses the use of these measures by regional authorities and identifies some of the challenges linked to their implementation on the ground.

The ENRD CP office in Brussels remains closed until further notice due to the COVID-19 outbreak but ENRD activities are all going ahead using digital approaches adapted to the new context. The team is as busy as ever networking, organising and delivering virtual events, producing publications and keeping you abreast of the latest news. We invite you to keep an eye on the Upcoming Events section of our website, where we list relevant forthcoming events. Feel free to contact us at any time!

The 3rd meeting of the ENRD Thematic Group #Rural2040 aimed to start a discussion about the common strands and the step changes needed to ensure the future Long Term Rural Vision becomes a reality for rural communities across Europe. The discussion drew on the preliminary JRC foresight scenarios and on the main messages that have been coming out of the work around the Vision carried out so far (e.g. in Member States, related research projects, other organisations).

Presentations from the day are available on the event page.

This ENRD workshop, targeting representatives of Member States and regions, aimed to further encourage the exchange on the practical aspects of addressing regional and/or territorial specificities through the future CAP Strategic Plans, with a particular focus on identifying key obstacles, possible solutions and needs for additional support.

Presentations from the day are available on the event page.

The 19th NRN meeting was organised by the ENRD Contact Point jointly with the Luxembourg Rural Network. The main objectives of the meeting were to discuss the role of NRNs in supporting and promoting transnational cooperation under LEADER and in future also for EIP-AGRI Operational Groups, to provide space to exchange on forthcoming rural networking activities and to consider how NRNs have so far contributed to stakeholder engagement activities around the development of the Long Term Vision for Rural Areas.

Presentations from the day are available on the event page.

Participants in this ENRD workshop discussed the recently adopted transitional provisions extending the legal framework of the current CAP to the years 2021 and 2022 as well as information on the integration of the European Union Recovery Instrument (EURI) funds in the RDPs. MS exchanged on practical aspects of the related RDP amendments and how to best use the additional resources made available for rural development by the EURI.

Presentations from the day are available on the event page.

This edition of the EAFRD Projects Brochure presents EAFRD-supported projects from the 2014-2020 RDPs that have successfully improved services, jobs or social inclusion in rural areas and is available in seven languages.

This highlights report presents the findings from the LEADER Thematic Lab on ‘Developing local strategic approaches to address green issues’. Participants exchanged views and practical experiences related to the potential contribution of LEADER and Local Action Groups (LAGs) to ‘greening’ and European Green Deal objectives locally. They also discussed key factors in local strategic approaches, including re-localisation, resources, capacities, setting local objectives and networking methods.

This report presents the highlights of the Workshop for National Rural Networks on Valorising and Communicating Successful Projects. Participants exchanged experiences on how to identify and demonstrate the key success factors and the added value of a project, and lessons shared on the communication of these.

The Common Network Statistics (CNS) report provides an insight into the quantitative outputs of National Rural Networks (NRNs) in 2019 and highlights the various activities of the NRNs.