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Climate action, particularly climate change mitigation, can provide opportunities for the primary sector, rural communities and businesses to become more sustainable, resilient and competitive. These rural development stakeholders can make a major contribution to the European Green Deal, the roadmap for a sustainable EU economy. 

This edition of the EU Rural Review looks at how rural areas are making significant contributions towards climate action, also thanks to EAFRD support.

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 – sometimes achieving more than was initially planned.

The publication shows how social objectives can go hand in hand with economic and environmental sustainability and that vibrant rural areas are essential for all, including for farmers and urban citizens.

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EAFRD Projects Brochure 'Vibrant rural areas'

LEADER is one of the longest standing, most successful and popular European-wide initiatives.

This EU Rural Review explores how the seven LEADER principles are interpreted today by people who have been deeply involved with implementing LEADER in rural communities across Europe.

The articles show how the principles work in practice, how they deliver results and ensure sustained performance over time, and how they are adaptable to deal with the emerging challenges and opportunities facing rural areas.

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EU Rural Review 29 - LEADER Achievements

This Projects Brochure brings the 25 finalists of the Rural Inspiration Awards (RIA) 2019 back into the spotlight. It gives well‑deserved visibility to their projects, provides updates on their achievements, and hopes to inspire new projects.

The RIA 2019 were the first EU-wide rural development good practice competition organised by the ENRD in the 2014-2020 programming period. This initiative celebrated projects that are using funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in an inspiring way to make European rural areas more competitive, sustainable and inclusive.

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EAFRD Projects Brochure - Rural Inspiration Awards 2019

The theme of this EU Rural Review is 'mainstreaming the bioeconomy'.

With the spotlight firmly focused on how society can manage its natural resources in a sustainable way, rural areas around Europe are increasingly getting primed and ready to reap the benefits of the bioeconomy. This publication looks at the major role played by the new EU Bioeconomy Strategy as well as the importance of local and regional actors to enhance the development of the bioeconomy.

The content of the publication has been informed by the work of the ENRD Thematic Group on 'Mainstreaming the Bioeconomy'.

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EU Rural Review 28 - Mainstreaming the Bioeconomy

This edition of the EAFRD Projects Brochure illustrates how the mainstreaming of the bioeconomy is being accelerated by Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) around Europe.

A sustainable bioeconomy, while it benefits everyone, has particular relevance for rural communities. The twelve projects featured in this Projects Brochure illustrate how RDPs are helping rural communities seize the opportunities offered by the bioeconomy through the production of sustainable food and feed, innovative bio-based products, renewable energy, environmentally sustainable growth and awareness raising.

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EAFRD Projects Brochure - Bioeconomy

This issue of the EU Rural Review examines the role of networking in rural development policy. It traces how networking has evolved to become a defining characteristic of rural development in Europe. 

All types of rural stakeholders interact in today’s increasingly diverse networking ecosystem. The publication concludes by considering how Networking will continue to evolve under the future policy environment.

For more about networking check out ‘networX’, the largest gathering of rural networking practitioners organised under the current programming period.

This edition of the EAFRD Projects Brochure presents twelve projects that show how Rural Development policy is helping to make rural areas more attractive places for young people to live and work, in agriculture and beyond.

Youth in rural areas, and young farmers in particular, enhance rural vitality and pave the way for stronger value chains and rural prosperity. Generational renewal is one of the preconditions for improved competitiveness of the agricultural sector over the longer term and for sustainable food production in Europe.

This edition of the EAFRD Projects Brochure profiles twelve participatory social and digital initiatives that are enhancing rural services in six key areas: multi-service hubs; health, education; mobility; energy; and digitisation of the village itself.

The examples showcase how rural communities can sometimes respond to the challenges they face faster than policy, using innovative funding solutions such as private sector investment and crowdfunding.

The Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) can provide complementary support to local communities at each stage of the transformation process of a rural area into a ‘smart village’: from the initial idea to successful scale-up.

This issue of the EU Rural Review showcases rural communities across Europe taking the initiative to find practical solutions to challenges they face and seize new opportunities.

It explores how digital and social innovation can be used in new, creative ways to improve basic services in rural areas. It further looks at national and regional approaches to creating an enabling environment, as well as how the Rural Development Programmes can catalyse rural service innovation.

The content of this edition has been informed by the broader ENRD thematic work on ‘Smart Villages’.