Europe

In this article from the Scottish Islands Federation you can find out more about the organisation and its work.

The Scottish Rural Network (SRN) recently hosted a visit from a group of Estonian farmers and academics which saw them visiting projects and businesses across western and central Scotland, including Mull.

The SRN put together a programme of visits for the group based on their interests, predominantly sheep farming and slaughterhouses, as the group are in the process of setting up an abattoir on the Estonian island of Muhu.

There is still time to enter the Anders Wall Award which recognises private individuals who have made a special contribution to the rural environment within the European Union.

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 this award.

The landowner of the selected project will receive a diploma of recognition and prize of €20,000.

A new publication highlights examples of social innovation in mountain regions of Europe.

In the brochure from SIMRA (Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas) you can find out how rural communities are capitalising on the natural and social assets in mountainous areas in terms of community life, living environment and dynamic approaches to governance.

Your views are wanted on the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on generational renewal, local development and jobs in rural areas.

You can have your say by taking part in a short online survey by 26 November 2018.

Last week the Scottish Rural Network (SRN) hosted a visit from a group of 10 Danish Local Action Group (LAG) members from the Jammerbugt-Vesthimmerland region who wanted to visit LEADER funded projects in Scotland. They were specifically interested in the food development and sustainable growth fields and wanted an insight into projects that have been successful in this area, in particular any challenges they have faced/overcome and any learning or networking they could glean from this experience.