Europe

If you have a project idea and would like to apply for a decision on funding to the Dumfries & Galloway LEADER March 2017 LAG meeting, you must submit your Expression of Interest.  

The deadline for applications is mid-day on the following dates:
Communities:  7 December 2016
Rural Enterprise/Farm Diversification:  7 December 2016
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund:  4 December 2016

The European Small Islands Federation highlight some of the issues that small islands face as well as the wealth of opportunity for sustainable development. 

Officials from all over the European Union came together to share their experience of supporting European Innovation Partnerships in agriculture and forestry (EIP-AGRI) in Budapest, Hungary on 4-5 October 2016.

The idea behind European Innovation Partnerships is that farmers or foresters work with others, such as researchers to: 

Each June an Annual Implementation Report (AIR) on the Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 is submitted to the European Commission.

The first report was submitted in June 2016 and covered the calendar years 2014 and 2015. To accompany the AIR, an overview of the main findings was produced - Summary for Citizens. 

Are you aged between 18 and 25 and passionate about the future of agriculture?

Entries are now open to participate in the third Bayer Youth Ag-Summit to be held in October 2017 in Brussels. 

In partnership with two Belgian Young Farmers Associations, Groene Kring and Federation des Jeunes Agriculteurs, next year’s week-long conference will bring together around 100 young people to discuss contemporary issues in agriculture, the environment and international development.

The Anders Wall Award for private individuals who have made a special contribution to the rural environment in the European Union is open for applications.

Anders Wall Foundation from Stockholm in association with the European Commission, Directorate General for the Environment, Brussels, the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry and the "Friends of the Countryside", has introduced the award.

Only private enterprises can enter the competition.

Their achievements should preferably include the following elements:

In this event report, Don Morrison from the Scottish Rural Network Support Unit reports on the recent cooperation event in Estonia, and Kim Ritchie from Angus LEADER tells us about the Local Action Group tour she took part in as part of the event.

The recent Transnational Cooperation (TNC) Fair held in Estonia was attended by a number of Scottish representatives including delegates from Angus and Cairngorms LEADER as well as Don Morrison and Alistair Prior from the Scottish Rural Network.

A new Cork Declaration on Rural Development called 'A Better Life for Rural Areas' has been published.

The declaration was drafted at the Cork 2.0 European Conference on Rural Development which took place on from 5-6 September, exactly twenty years after the first Cork conference which concluded with the signing of the first Cork Declaration on Rural Development.

Angus LEADER delegates Kim Ritchie and Graham Galloway reported enthusiastically on returning from the Estonia Transnational Cooperation Fair.

Cooperation is about working on a project with organisations or groups in different areas. When a project involves partners in more than one country it is called a transnational cooperation TNC) project.

The LEADER Transnational Cooperation Fair took place in Estonia from 24-26 August 2016.

Local Action Group member Graham, who works with Kirriemuir youth music project DD8 Music, said: