There is a strong synergy between the Smart Islands initiative and the Smart Villages concept. Through concrete examples from the islands of Europe, this workshop will explore some of the 10 key steps for action towards becoming smart, inclusive and thriving islands and villages. In particular we will look at the move away from fossil…
Local solutions for climate change
Supporting ‘transition’ in Europe’s rural communities We will examine the opportunities for and examples of community-led climate action in Europe. Presentations look at active examples, support systems and links to the current and emerging policy framework (inc. Smart Villages). The workshop will consider options to co-create a framework to support ‘transition’ in Europe’s rural communities….
Rural Digital: How to make innovation the engine of change in the rural environment
The term innovation is often less valued than research and development, but undoubtedly it is the sum of small great advances that has driven the evolution of our society. The redefinition of innovation as the ability to establish connections between previously unrelated experiences and searching for original solutions that bring value to people. It will…
Smart villages: Making it happen
At the start of the new programming period, the focus of discussions around smart villages has been shifting towards how to best support ‘Smart villages’ implementation through policies, programmes and related funds in preparation for the 2021-27 programming period. The workshop will aim at exploring in a participatory way what could be done at local,…
LEADER/CLLD
The workshop concentrates on presenting the added value of ESF and ERDF usage via the LEADER approach. The content of the workshop is based on case studies from different Member States and a survey conducted under the thematic project ‘LEADER/CLLD for citizens and for the European Union’. The outcomes of the survey and selected case…
Balkan and Black Sea rural civil society cooperation with EU organisation
Challenges and Opportunities The workshop is organised to highlight the main challenges that face civil rural development society organisations from the Black Sea and Balkan regions, in the field of cooperation with EU Organisations and Institutions. During the discussions, we will talk about funding opportunities and civil dialogue, advocacy and probable other issues (including political,…
‘LEADER beyond rural and the EU’
Over the past ten years, the EU’s bottom-up rural development method LEADER has been expanding to new policy areas, such as coastal and fisheries development policy as well as urban development policy. LEADER pilots have also been launched in new geographic areas, e.g. in the Balkan area, Latin America and Africa. What are the lessons…
‘We are Europeans’
The UK and Ireland have been discussing why it’s important for our countries to continue to work together and with the rest of Europe. Whether a country is a member of the EU or not experiences can still be shared and support offered. We all have a lot to offer rural community development. In this…
The EU-rural citizen relations
Participants are invited to discuss on how EU is seen and understood by rural citizens in positive and negative ways. Do we know enough about each other and if so, what are the ‘underlying’expectations and wishes from each other? Are there real answers? Are citizens just sleeping or waiting for things to come and EU…