ENRD Main Stories Archives
Highlight of the month: Youth on the move
Youth Entrepreneurship Conference
Over 100 participants attended the held in Jurmala, Latvia, on 22 and 23 October. The event was intended for representatives of National Rural Networks (NRNs), Managing Authorities (MAs) and young entrepreneurs and people interested in starting a business in rural areas.
The conference gave a thorough overview of the steps undertaken by the networks in the Baltic and Scandinavian regions to support youth and young entrepreneurs in rural areas. It focused on 3 main questions:
- How to make rural areas more attractive for young entrepreneurs?
- How to engage young people in entrepreneurial activities?
- How to help them start a profitable business?
The ENRD CP was represented at the event as it was a good opportunity to introduce the work done so far in the framework of the youth initiative, prior to the forthcoming , Belgium, on 11 and 12 December 2013.
The implementation of a flagship project about youth within the EU’s Baltic Sea strategy has also helped to create strong links among the NRNs and enabled to establish a good relation with the Russian authorities dealing with the development of rural areas.
The results achieved by NRNs within this flagship project in terms of actively supporting young people in rural areas, raising awareness about young people’s needs, encouraging youth engagement and creating a ‘space’ where young people can express themselves, is an interesting example of complementarity between different policies. The use of instruments financed by different funds, for instance the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), enable the networks to make the most of the available, but limited, resources for supporting young people.
In fact, it was highlighted by several participants that even though youth are often considered as an important target group and the depopulation of rural areas is considered as a serious issue in Europe, these concerns are not reflected in the allocation of financial resources within the rural development policy, both at European and national levels.
The agenda and presentations from the conference can be found here.
The Youth & Young Farmers Gateway offers relevant information and resources on the support offered to young farmers and young people in rural areas in the European Union.
