The 11^th OECD Rural Development Conference (9-12 April 2018 – Edinburgh, UK), discussed how innovation can help rural areas and people respond to the challenges of globalisation, shifting trading patterns, and growing inequality.

The event highlighted ten key drivers of rural change and the development of an integrated policy approach to capitalise on these. It concluded with adoption of the Edinburgh Policy Statement which calls for making the most of rural innovation opportunities for job creation, economic growth, and service delivery (see also OECD’s Rural 3.0 Policy Note).

The conference was co-hosted by the European Commission and the Scottish and UK Governments, and saw an active involvement of the European and UK rural networks.

The ENRD Contact Point designed and facilitated six pre-conference workshops which brought together rural development practitioners and showcased inspiring project examples on topics including: global value chains; smart rural communities; technologies to face climate change; skills of the future; business support; and future governance.