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NEWSLETTER FOR THE EN RD J u l y 2 0 1 0

The EU Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) is dueto be reormed by 2013 and a ormal publicconsultation will be undertaken later this year,when the Commission intends to publish apolicy paper setting out dierent options or theuture CAP, or consideration. In this regard, theEuropean Commissioner or Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, Dacian Ciolo, launched a publicdebate on the uture o the CAP on the 12thApril 2010. As a precursor to the ormal publicconsultation, Mr. Ciolo invited all interested EUcitizens and organisations to participate. On

April 14th, an extraordinary meeting o the ENRD Coordination committee was held, at whichthe members o the committee were invited tolaunch the public debate on the CAP ater 2013in their own country/organisation. With ruraldevelopment identied as the second pillaro CAP, this public consultation will serve as animportant contribution in terms o identiyingrequirements or CAP ater 2013.

The ollowing rural development questions havebeen proposed by DG AGRI:

A. What should be the objectives o any uturerural development policy?

B. How can the policy instruments be mademore eective?

C. How can the management o the policy beimproved?

Individuals and organisations interested in ruraldevelopment are invited to join the debate, eitherthrough their National Rural Networks (NRNs) or

the other organisations represented in the EN

RD Coordination Committee. The members o

the Coordination Committee were requested tosubmit their contributions by June 3rd. These con-tributions are posted on the website: http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/cap-consultation-process_home_en/

en/debate-contributions_en.cfm

All contributions will be brought together in asingle synthesis report which will be presentedat a conerence to be held on 19-20 July inBrussels: (http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-

post-2013/conference/index_en.htm)

Commisionner Ciolos participated in the

Enlarged Advisory Group on the CAP post2013, on June 3rd. To read his speech or orurther inormation: http://ec.europa.eu/com-mission_2010-2014/ciolos/headlines/speech-

es/2010/06/20100603_fr.htm or http://ec.europa.e u / a g r i c u l t u r e / c a p - p o s t - 2 0 1 3 / s p e e c h e s /

adgroup20100603_en.pdf

Additional inormation on the wider CAPdebate can be ound at the ollowing link:http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-debate

where more than 5000 contributions have

already been posted.

SUMMARY

01

European Commission

Published by: Rob Peters, Head o Unit, EC Directorate General or Agriculture and Rural Development.This publication does not necessarily express the ocial views o the Commission.

R U R @ L

N E W S 9

F OC U S

Public Debate on the Future ofthe Common Agriculture Policy(CAP)

http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/cap-consultation-process_home_en/en/debate-contributions_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/cap-consultation-process_home_en/en/debate-contributions_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/cap-consultation-process_home_en/en/debate-contributions_en.cfmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/conference/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/conference/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/ciolos/headlines/speeches/2010/06/20100603_fr.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/ciolos/headlines/speeches/2010/06/20100603_fr.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/ciolos/headlines/speeches/2010/06/20100603_fr.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/speeches/adgroup20100603_en.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/speeches/adgroup20100603_en.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/speeches/adgroup20100603_en.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-debatehttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-debatehttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/speeches/adgroup20100603_en.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/speeches/adgroup20100603_en.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/speeches/adgroup20100603_en.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/ciolos/headlines/speeches/2010/06/20100603_fr.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/ciolos/headlines/speeches/2010/06/20100603_fr.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/ciolos/headlines/speeches/2010/06/20100603_fr.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/conference/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/conference/index_en.htmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/cap-consultation-process_home_en/en/debate-contributions_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/cap-consultation-process_home_en/en/debate-contributions_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/cap-consultation-process_home_en/en/debate-contributions_en.cfm

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02TOP

Enhanced EN RD Website Now Live!

The European Network or Rural Development

(EN RD) is delighted to announce the launch o

an enhanced EN RD website on April 28th. The

site has been re-congured to improve access to a range o inormation on

rural development within the European Union. The aim is to establish a site

which better refects the dynamic and pan-European aspects o the EN RD.

It will also promote the wide range o activities taking place both within and

between Member States.

This certainly is an important step in improving the services and visibility o

the EN RD, says Rob Peters, Head o Unit, DG AGRI-G3, and a recognition o

the growing importance o the EN RD as a mechanism intended to improve

the fow o inormation, knowledge, cooperation and eectiveness o rural

development networks throughout Europe. Mr. Peters also acknowledged

the need to continue to extend communication services and the fow o

knowledge and inormation between the European Commission and mem-

bers o the EN RD, recognising that the website and other services will need

to continue to expand and improve as a source o rural development inorma-

tion and exchange o experience. Our long-term aim is to establish the EN RD

website as the denitive source o rural development inormation in Europe.Its an ambitious target but one that we believe we can achieve, given the

growing level o support provided by the Member State rural networks and

the ever-increasing importance o rural development within the EU.

Some o the new eatures o the enhanced site now available include:

Inter-active maps which allow access to a range o rural development

inormation by country;

The launch o a dedicated page on the public debate on the CAP, post-

2013;

An expanding thematic library o inormation on various rural develop-

ment topics and new challenges;

A ast access gateway to more detailed inormation on all EU National

Rural Networks;

A partner search acility or Leader cooperation projects;

More up to date inormation and news on rural development events

and activities;

Haris Martinos o the EN RD Contact Point says We are very pleased with the

progress made with the EN RD website and o course we hope that urther

progress can be made in the coming months, as more people learn about and

begin to use the web services. In this respect, we would welcome eedback

rom all users on ways in which the new website can be urther enhanced.

Visit the new enhanced EN RD website at: http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/

4th Leader Subcommittee Meeting

The ourth Leader subcommittee (LSC) meeting took place in Brussels on

the 20th May, 2010. Discussions centred on the presentations o the initial

work o three Focus Groups. Focus Group 1 is examining the implementa-

tion o the bottom up principle in terms o decision making processes and

mainstreaming issues. The second group is ocusing on issues relating to

preserving the innovation/experimental character o Leader, and the third

group presented its ndings on work related to the implementation o the

cooperation measure.

An overview was also given o the intermediary ndings o the European

Evaluation Network Thematic Working Group (TWG) on the assessment othe impacts o Leader and Quality o Lie related measures. The meeting was

chaired by Rob Peters, head o unit G3, DG Agri.

The meeting proved both interesting and insightul. It provided an op-

portunity to draw attention to some ongoing issues in terms o Leader

implementation and discuss possible improvements. For urther inormation:

http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/committees/leader-

subcommittee/en/4th-leader-subcommittee_en.cfm

National Rural Networks Meet

Rome was the location or the

8th meeting o the National

Rural Networks (NRNs), which

took place in late March.

The meeting provided an

opportunity to update NRNs

on progress on the three on-

going NRN thematic initia-

tives and to kick-o a ourth

specic thematic initiative on

rural entrepreneurship.

The NRN thematic group scrutinising orestry issues has been identiying

dierences between and within Member States, in support o the orestrysector, the types o orestry measures used and the levels o unding and

other support currently available. Focus points or urther analysis include:

competition or conficting interests among armers and oresters aiming to

access RDP orestry support; administrative eorts required to access orestry

support; bio-energy production; and possible orms o common actions or

cooperation.

Initial ndings rom the NRNs on-going thematic work on Social Farming

(or care arming) i.e. practices aimed at promoting social welare (i.e. social

inclusion, rehabilitation, employment, education and therapy) are the result

o inormation gathered rom nine Member States. The review illustrates

the wide range o support currently provided or Social Farming, the role

o the RDPs and the growing visibility o an EU Social Farming sector. The

review also highlighted signicant variances in Social Farming support sys-

tems and legislative or regulatory rameworks throughout the EU. Benets

have already been gained rom this analysis, which allows comparisons

o dierences in approaches and methods used, as well as the guidelines

that exist, best practices that have been adopted and the quality standards

established or specic beneciaries. Follow-up activities by the NRNs aim

to urther develop case

study examples or

inclusion in the EN RDs

Project Inormation

and Knowledge

Sharing Exchange(PIKSE) database and

develop practical

projects between par-

ticipating countries/

organisations.

The concept o joint working underlies the aims o a new NRN thematic

initiative, launched at the NRN orum dealing with the question o NRN

roles in strengthening rural entrepreneurship. Objectives or this NRN

collaboration involve appraising how NRNs can add value to rural entrepre-

neurship activity through improvements in the implementation o EAFRD.

Case studies will be collected o practical examples o innovative projects.Targeted research will also be undertaken, to better understand the poten-

tial synergies and complementarities that can be achieved, in conjunction

ENRD

ACTIVITY

UPDATE

Vierhoekoeve

http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/committees/leader-subcommittee/en/4th-leader-subcommittee_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/committees/leader-subcommittee/en/4th-leader-subcommittee_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/committees/leader-subcommittee/en/4th-leader-subcommittee_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/committees/leader-subcommittee/en/4th-leader-subcommittee_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/

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with other public and private rural development support instruments, in

the orestry sector.

In addition to the above points, a number o other useul development

matters were discussed during the NRNs 8th meeting. Visit: http://enrd.

ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/nrn-meetings/en/9th-nrn-meeting_en.cfm

or a detailed account o the ull meeting outcomes.

Thematic Working Group - Joint Meeting

A joint meeting o the EN RD Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) 1, 2 and 3

was held on the 23rd March to share the current outcomes o their analyses.

Following progress reports rom each o the TWGs, discussion ocused on

possible uture joint analyses. Issues raised included questions regarding:

how rural areas are dened and the territorial specicities targeted or rural

development purposes; the dierent economic links between agriculture

and other rural activities; and the importance o both environmental and

social public goods in rural areas.

During the meeting it was noted that TWGs have identied examples o rel-

evant practice which can and should be shared with a range o EN RD stake-

holders, so as to improve the delivery o rural development programmes.

In this way, TWG outcomes can be applied to improve the ecient use o

EAFRD during the present programming period, and also in the shaping o

programmes or the period starting in 2013. A ollow-up workshop o all

the TWGs and the Coordination Committee took place on June 7th. Find

out more http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-events-and-meetings/committees/

en/committees_home_en.cfm

03TOP

LAG NetworkingSpring has seen a furry o Local Acrion Group (LAG)

networking events around the EU. These included

the European Leader Expo held in Budapest rom

4th to 7th o March which brought together LAG representatives rom the

Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Estonia and Spain, as well as all LAGs rom the

host country - Hungary. Transnational cooperation proved to be a common

topic o interest among Expo participants, who welcomed the release o the

EN RD on-line guide (http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader/2007-2013/tnc-guide/en/

tnc-guide_home_en.cfm) to developing eective cooperation projects.

Other recent events have included the Leader Inspired Networking

Community (LINC) conerence, which aims to oster networking and the

exchange o experience among European Leader areas in an innovative way.

The conerence, which took

place in Austria rom the 15th

to 17th March, united LAGs

rom Austria, Germany, Estonia

and Finland. Also the UK na-

tional networking conerence,

held in Belast on the 10th

and 11th o March, provided

an opportunity to disseminate

ndings about EN RD thematic

activities to LAG delegates. An

interesting 10 key thoughts on

Rural Development(http://ow.ly/1iqVa) was also presented as ood or thought

to the UK audience o LAG and NRN partners.

Young Farmers and RDPs

Members rom the European Council of Young Farmers (http://www.ceja.

org/english/) met at a workshop in Hungary rom the 11th-13th o March,

to discuss young armers roles in implementing rural development policy.

Examining a comprehensive range o topics, the event shared experiences

rom around the EU on issues such as young armers involvement with NRNs,

LAGs, RDP communication strategies and Monitoring Committees. Much o

the conerence was dedicated to the role o young armers organisations in

the execution o national rural development programmes (RDPs) and some18 dierent best practice case studies were presented rom nine Member

States. Overall conclusions rom the conerence reinorced the act that

Europes young armers represent essential stakeholders or the long term

development o EU rural areas. Read morehttp://www.ceja.org/english/

Future Forestry Policy

A new Green Paper has launched a public debate on orestry issues with spe-

cial attention ocused on climate change infuences. Released in March, the

Green Paper (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/green_paper.pdf )

sets out options or an EU approach to orest protection, orest management

and inormation on orests. The goal is to ensure that EU orests can continue

to perorm all their social, economic and environmental unctions in the

uture said Janez Potonik, European Commissioner or the Environment.

Participate in the public debate (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/

forests_en.htm) (open until July 31st).

More public Goods rom EU arms

A recent report published or DG Agriculture and Rural Development entitled

Provision o Public Goods through Agriculture in the European Union identi-

es a wide range o diverse environmental and social public goods provided

by European armers. The study demonstrates that the European public

places a high value on these public goods and yet the evidence suggests that

they are not being provided on a sucient scale. The CAP plays a critical rolein helping armers to deliver environmental goods and services, provided

that policies are targeted in the right way. The study concludes that a well

targeted policy, with clear objectives and sucient budgetary resources, will

be essential to ensuring the delivery o public goods in line with societys

expectations. Read more (http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/analysis/external/

public-goods/index_en.htm)

Promoting the Development o Green Inrastructure

through Rural Development

In order to promote connectivity initiatives, the Commission has started to

promote the concept o Green Inrastructure development, aiming to show

NEWS

ABOUT

http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/nrn-meetings/en/9th-nrn-meeting_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/nrn-meetings/en/9th-nrn-meeting_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-events-and-meetings/committees/en/committees_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-events-and-meetings/committees/en/committees_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader/2007-2013/tnc-guide/en/tnc-guide_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader/2007-2013/tnc-guide/en/tnc-guide_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader/2007-2013/tnc-guide/en/tnc-guide_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader/2007-2013/tnc-guide/en/tnc-guide_home_en.cfmhttp://ow.ly/1iqVahttp://ow.ly/1iqVahttp://ow.ly/1iqVahttp://ow.ly/1iqVahttp://www.ceja.org/english/http://www.ceja.org/english/http://www.ceja.org/english/http://www.ceja.org/english/http://www.ceryc.eu/http://www.ceja.org/english/http://www.ceja.org/english/http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/green_paper.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/green_paper.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/forests_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/forests_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/forests_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/analysis/external/public-goods/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/analysis/external/public-goods/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/analysis/external/public-goods/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/analysis/external/public-goods/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/analysis/external/public-goods/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/analysis/external/public-goods/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/analysis/external/public-goods/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/forests_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/forests_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/forests_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/green_paper.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/green_paper.pdfhttp://www.ceja.org/english/http://www.ceryc.eu/http://www.ceja.org/english/http://www.ceja.org/english/http://www.ceja.org/english/http://ow.ly/1iqVahttp://ow.ly/1iqVahttp://ow.ly/1iqVahttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader/2007-2013/tnc-guide/en/tnc-guide_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader/2007-2013/tnc-guide/en/tnc-guide_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader/2007-2013/tnc-guide/en/tnc-guide_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-events-and-meetings/committees/en/committees_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-events-and-meetings/committees/en/committees_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/nrn-meetings/en/9th-nrn-meeting_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/events-and-meetings/nrn-meetings/en/9th-nrn-meeting_en.cfm

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Estonia

The most northerly o the threeBaltic States, Estonia stretches 350km rom west to east and 240 kmrom north to south. Sea-islandsorm 10% o Estonias territory,

which covers an area o 45 000km2. The countrys populationranks among one o the small-est in the world, at just over 1.34

million. Approximately 33 % o these live in rural areas. Find out more(http://www.estonica.org/)

RDP Priority

Estonias RDP(http://www.agri.ee/?id=11291 ) includes a total budget o935 million. The main objective o the RDP is to improve the com-petitiveness o agricultural holdings and the agricultural processingindustry. However, new elements o the RDP or 2010 also include,

04TOP

that European habitats, species and landscapes are inter-dependent and

cannot be sustained in isolation.

Emerging evidence is

making it increasingly

clear that more needs

to be done to build an

ecologically coherent

green inrastructure

or Europe and this

has implications or

rural development

stakeholders. The

aim is to build on the

oundations, already

established through

the Natura 2000 EU-

wide network o ecological sites that contain many o Europes most valuable

and threatened species and habitats. Despite the act that the Natura 2000

network o sites is the largest o its kind in the world, covering 17% o EU

territory, there is a clear lack o connectivity between many o these areas.

Farmers, oresters and all other rural actors associated with Natura 2000sites need to become more involved in actions that strengthen spatial con-

nectivity between existing nature areas in order to counter ragmentation

and increase their ecological coherence. Such activity may include managing

hedgerows, providing wildlie strips in elds, preserving small watercourses,

creating green bridges, wildlie corridors or stepping stones between

habitat patches.

Rural development stakeholders not only have a role to play, but much

to gain rom improvements in this area. Healthy ecosystems not only ad-

dress the issue o loss o biodiversity across Europe, but many wider rural

development priorities, including adaptation to climate change and the

maintenance o ecosystem services such as clean water, productive soils

and attractive recreational areas. This issue received much coverage as part

o EU Green Week rom June 1st to 4th. For urther inormation click here:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/greenweek/index.html

New Report on Rural Development statistics and

economy

Recognising that inormation needs or rural development are constantly

evolving, the European Commissions Directorate-General or Agriculture

and Rural Development has published a specic report which contains a

comprehensive set o inormation on rural areas and the implementation o

the EUs rural development policy.

The Rural Development in the European Union Statistical and Economic

Inormation Report 2009 provides statistical and economic inormation

covering the three objectives o Rural Development policy 2007-2013, as well

as an overview o the rural development budget and inormation on the -

nancial monitoring o RD programmes in the EU-27 and candidate countries.

Although this inormation is available in a variety o sources, the report, or the

rst time, compiles all the inormation in a structured way, integrated in a single

document. http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/agrista/rurdev2009/index_en.htm

SIBIU Conerence Re-scheduled

The second seminar o the EN RD Semi-subistence arming: current situ-ation and uture prospects, which was due to take place in Sibiu, Romania

in April, but was cancelled due to fight disruptions across Europe, has been

rescheduled. The conerence will now take place in Sibiu on 13th to 15th

October 2010. Up to 150 participants are expected to attend the conerence

which will assess the current situation regarding policies directed at semi-

subsistence arms in the EU-27.

Rural Review Magazine Now Available!

The Fourth issue o EU Rural Review, the Magazine rom the European

Network or Rural Development, is now available on-line (English version;

other versions to ollow). The publication is devoted to the contribution o

rural development policy in the ght against climate change. To download

your copy click here:http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-library/en-rd-publications/

periodicals/en/periodicals_home_en.cfm

TOUR OF

THE MEMBER

STATES

Facts and fgures about Estonia

Capital City: Talinn

Year o entry to the EU: 2004

Population: 1.3 million

Total Area: 45,000 km a

Farming Activities: cereals, cattle, pigs, poultry

Main oods produced: cereals, dairy products, pig-meat, eggs

http://www.estonica.org/http://www.estonica.org/http://www.estonica.org/http://www.agri.ee/?id=11291http://www.agri.ee/?id=11291http://ec.europa.eu/environment/greenweek/index.htmlhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/agrista/rurdev2009/index_en.htmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-library/en-rd-publications/periodicals/en/periodicals_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-library/en-rd-publications/periodicals/en/periodicals_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-library/en-rd-publications/periodicals/en/periodicals_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-library/en-rd-publications/periodicals/en/periodicals_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-library/en-rd-publications/periodicals/en/periodicals_home_en.cfmhttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en-rd-library/en-rd-publications/periodicals/en/periodicals_home_en.cfmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/agrista/rurdev2009/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/greenweek/index.htmlhttp://www.agri.ee/?id=11291http://www.agri.ee/?id=11291http://www.estonica.org/http://www.estonica.org/

8/9/2019 Rur@l News (issue 9).

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K3-AI-10-002-EN-N

WHERE TO

FIND OUT MORE

European Network or Rural Development:

http://enrd.ec.europa.eu

EU Rural Development policy 200713:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rurdev/index_en.htm

Directorate-General or Agriculture and Rural Development:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/index_en.htm

The European Evaluation Network:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rurdev/eval/network/index_en.htm

RUR@L NEWS Contributions/EventsDont orget to keep us inormed by telling us about what you aredoing in rural development in your area. Please send the comments to:newsletter@enrd.eu

SubscriptionsYou can subscribe/unsubscribe yoursel or somebody you know andedit your contact details by sending us an e-mail to the ollowingaddress: newsletter@enrd.eu

Contacting the Contact PointI you would like to contact the EN RD Contact Point please note theollowing details:

Telephone: 00 32 2 235 2020

Fax: 00 32 2 280 0438

Email: info@enrd.eu

FIND OUT

MORE

TOP05

9 7 7 1 8 3 1 4 8 6 0 0 4

I S S N 1 8 3 1 - 4 8 6 4

promoting innovation, assisting joint activ-ity between rural businesses and bodies, aswell as investments in broadband Internetaccess.

Despite the current diicult economicclimate or rural areas, by March 2010some 40% o Estonias RDP budget hadalready been approved or projects, andEAFRD expenditure rates exceeded 25%.

Some 26 Leader LAGs operate and these in-volve the vast majority o rural communities.Ave Bremse rom the Estonian NRN (http://www.maainfo.ee/index.php?page=3441)explains that, the Managing Authoritydecided to allocate 85.7 million or LAG de-velopment strategies. This demonstrates ourrelatively small countrys big commitment tousing Leader methodologies or implement-ing rural development policy.

Estonias NRN ocuses its support onadding value to the ull spectrum o RDPmeasures and is based at theRural EconomyResearch Centre (http://www.maainfo.ee/index.php?page=3413&), which is a stateagency administered by the Ministry oAgriculture. Krista Kiv works as the heado the department o Fisheries and RuralNetwork and highlights how the networksprinciples involve acilitating lexible,open-minded and gradual development,with bottom-up initiatives based on needs,

and developed through cooperative activ-ity among rural actors. She continues Wepublish a weekly e-newsletter and workclosely with our partners in the networksCooperation Chamber, as well as withother NRNs around Europe, during delivery

o our integrated support unctions. Theseinvolve strengthening LAG capacities,encouraging transnational links and pro-viding inputs to national rural policy. Forinstance, we are progressing thematicinitiatives regarding joint marketing andyouth involvement in rural development.Leader oers useul opportunities in bothcases. We are also collecting and dissemi-nating good practice inormation or our

stakeholders via our website and throughspecial events.

Reve Lambur works as an NRN developmentoicer and explains that a recent exampleo such events was the Rural DevelopmentDay at Estonias largest agricultural show- the Maamess Fair. Here, working togetherwith DG Agri and the EN RD Contact Point,we organised a series o good RDP prac-tice presentations or Maamess visitors.Showcased projects included a local ood

network, a trout ishery, NGO communitydevelopment acilities and good practicein ostrich arming and a sustainabletourism group.

Sustainable Tourism

Network

Sirje Kuusik is the chairperson othe sustainable tourism networkGenuine Experiences in Lahemaaand has extensive experience ap-

plying and managing dierentEU co-inanced projects (Phare,Interreg, Leader etc.). Followingthe success o her amilys naturearm at Kuusiku, where they pro-vide B&B with local and eco-ood

breakasts, nature guide services etc.(www.kuusikunaturefarm.ee ), Sirje starteda network with 18 members (one privatemuseum and 17 dierent amily based tour-ism arms in Lahemaa region). Accordingto Sirje Joint development projects areimportant as a micro rural tourism entre-preneur cant achieve the results they wantby working alone. Thanks to our irst jointproject we have a joint homepage or the

network (www.ehedad.ee) which we hopeto develop with our second project.

The network has already applied or twoLeader co-operation measure projectsthrough the LAG Arenduskoda NGO and ispreparing an international Leader project -Loving Local Products - ocusing on localood and handcrats, with 2 LAGs romFinlands Kymenlaakso country. Sirje saysOur experience has shown that networkinghas helped our members to reach their sus-

tainable development aims aster, as well asnding additional SME support resources.

READ MOREwww.ehedad.ee

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