The European Network for Rural Development (ENRD) provides a focus for connecting rural Europe and exchanging experiences between people and organisations involved with rural development. It is a not-for-profit body that was set up by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development in 2008, to help European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 Member States implement their Rural Development Programme(RDP) activities in an efficient manner.

The ENRD serves as a platform for the sharing of ideas and experiences on how rural development policies are working in practice and how they can be improved in all Member States. Its main stakeholders include National rural networks (NRNs), Member State authorities, Local Action Groups (LAGs) involved in implementing the Leader rural development methodology and other rural development organisations with an EU perspective.

Support for stakeholders

The ENRD provides a wide range of support for rural development stakeholders, all of which help inform the EU rural development policy debate, including:

• Helping to identify and collate examples of successful rural development projects across the European Union
• Assisting National Rural Networks (NRNs);
• Promoting transnational cooperation (TNC) between LAGs;
• Providing analysis of relevant themes including the broader benefits of agriculture (public goods), as well as relevant themes such as forestry, social farming and rural entrepreneurship.

Information sharing

The ENRD shares information with stakeholders in a variety of ways, including through its participation at events and fairs across Europe. In addition, ENRD publications
include:

• the newsletter, Rur@l News
• a quarterly magazine, EU Rural Review
• dedicated thematic brochures

The ENRD website provides access to a comprehensive set of multi-purpose and multilingual information: a newsreel keeps ENRD stakeholders upto-date with ENRD developments; the quick link to ‘Country pages’ provides in-depth information for each EU Member State; interactive tools promote better
networking and communications; and lots more…

ENRD contact point

The ENRD Contact Point (CP) supports the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission in running the ENRD and provides a focal point for ENRD activities. Based in Brussels,a core permanent team of staff is complemented by a larger group of experts, offering expertise in a wide range of rural development and geographic fields. In particular, the ENRD CP provides support for networking and cooperation, thematic analysis, events and communications.

See also

• National rural networks
• Rural Development Programme
• European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development
  European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development
  The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development is a European agricultural fund which was set up for the financing of Rural Development Programme actions by European Union Council Regulation No 1290/2005 of 21 June 2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy.Rural development is...
  
  
• Leader rural development methodology

External links

• European Commission, Agriculture and Rural Development policy 2007-2013