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Join Us in Generating a Vision & Strategy for Rural Europe – Now!
Help ARC2020 build a vision and strategy for rural Europe, by joining the civil society participation at a high level webconference on 7th July. […]
Rural Development
Latest from EU Member States
Germany | Islanders Go Digital
If remote rural communities want to be part of the conversations that will shape their futures, the ability to connect with other projects and stakeholders is a crucial skill. For one island community, the coronavirus crisis was a crash course in online networking. Hannes Lorenzen reports on Eco-Week 2020 and the digital leap forward on his home island of Pellworm, Germany. […]
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Social Innovation: A Must-Have For Marginalised Rural Areas
What lies behind the transformational changes in marginal rural areas? What are the social, economic and cultural drivers of “Smart Villages”, which have emerged as another facet of the EU’s support for community-led development? Lauren Mosdale shares the findings of the SIMRA project. […]
Latest from EU Member States
Rural Dialogues | Culture as Connection in Rural Europe
Rural places are peopled places – and people have and need cultural life. Culture can include heritage and the arts, the activities we enjoy, the food we eat, and the language we speak. Since these things matter in all our lives, they matter for all the places where we live, too. But talk about rural renaissance can often miss making cultural connections. […]
Latest from EU Member States
Rural Dialogues | Ruralization: Finding Frontiers for Rural Regeneration
Repositioning rural areas in response to problems of decline means overcoming complex, interconnected challenges. The RURALIZATION project is exploring innovative ways to overcome issues of rural regeneration and support generational renewal. […]
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Rural Dialogues | Smart Villages – Turning Momentum into Support for Local Action
The momentum behind Smart Villages continues to grow – both within EU and national policy circles and on the ground among rural communities. The challenge is to translate this momentum into a policy framework that provides fast and flexible tools which meet the needs and expectations of rural communities in different parts of Europe. This will mean avoiding complicated structures and plans, mobilising what exists in each place – and supporting local action rather than words. […]
Latest from EU Member States
Rural Dialogues | Best Immigration Practice can help Alleviate Rural Depopulation
Many rural areas suffer depopulation, while there is a need for newcomers to a country to be accommodated and given purposeful activities. Some lessons from a thoughtful approach to better rural integration of immigrants in rural Spain, with lessons for rural development more generally. […]
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Rural Dialogues | Transition Presents an Unprecedented Opportunity for Rural Revival
After ignoring the warnings of scientists for years, it seems society is finally starting to wake up to the fact that a deep transition to a low carbon society is necessary. What will this mean for rural areas and community initiatives? And what’s already happening in these places? Eamon O Hara of ECOLISE tells us more. […]
Latest from EU Member States
UK | Chapter 1: Robust Food Production Systems
The food security of the British population and its following generations cannot be simplified into a policy founded on the erroneous principle that the global market will always provide. It is vital for the food security of the British people that a sizeable proportion of the nation’s food comes from accessible and reliable sources operating regenerative food systems. Chapter 1 by Stuart Meikle. […]
Latest from key partners
Rural Youth Scholarships via Forum Synergies Open
An exciting opportunity for young people to get involved with interesting, innovative sustainable rural development initiatives around Europe has come up. […]
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Bhutan | Spearheading a Transition to Organics?
The Kingdom of Bhutan is best known for its high national happiness levels, gorgeous Buddhist monasteries, untouched forests and nature protection areas. Lesser known is that fifteen years ago, the small country in the Himalayan Mountains pledged a shift to total organic food production. ARC2020’s Hannes Lorenzen reports on the innovative entrepreneurs spearheading this transition. […]
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re:CAP | How Farm Policy Can Attract and Keep Young and New Entrants
After a summer break, we return to our re:CAP series to talk young and new farmers. We speak to Christian Rehmer (BUND – Friends of the Earth Germany), Aurélie Catallo (Pour Une Autre PAC), Ulrich Jaspers (AbL and Die Verbände-Plattform), and Ariel Brunner and Harriet Bradley (BirdLife). […]
Latest from key partners
re:CAP | Risks and the Rural World
What do the most effective rural development policies look like? What role might risk management play in that? We speak to Christian Rehmer (BUND, Friends of the Earth Germany), Aurélie Catallo (Pour Une Autre PAC), Ulrich Jaspers, AbL and Die Verbände-Plattform and Ariel Brunner and Harriet Bradley (BirdLife). […]
Main stories
What’s so important about the middle? Cooperative action and values for family farm viability.
Through the co-operative, Values-Based Supply Chain model, family farms can increase revenue, resulting in enhanced viability, sustainability and resilience. This in turn can help to preserve the pivotal contribution of family farms to rural economy, society and environment. […]
Main stories
Patriotism, Food Sovereignty & Contemporary Ukraine
Over the last few years, Ukraine went through dramatic political, socio-economic and cultural changes. Dr. Natalia Mamonova investigates how the rising Ukrainian national identity and patriotic sentiments during the geopolitical conflict with Russia changed the ways in which Ukrainian smallholders see their household farming. The revealed transformation may lead to an emergence of a food sovereignty movement in Ukraine. […]