Our Role
ERCA’s role is focused on networking and information sharing, skill development and promoting the importance of the rural areas and their people.
Networking and information sharing
- Providing a platform for networking and exchange of experience, skills and knowledge between local communities and national networks
- Creating a pool of experience from rural communities across Europe on how to make the countryside viable and deal with rural issues
- Providing a platform for developing international connections and projects
- Enabling mutual support, solidarity and confidence in rural communities
- Spreading the idea and understanding of rural movements into other countries where they do not currently exist
- Providing an information focus for forthcoming events, reports of conferences and projects etc.
- Providing a challenge support function for members in their engagement with policy makers with the respective jurisdictions
Skills development
- Providing a platform for mutual learning on the processes and structures of local rural development
- Providing learning opportunities between the well established and new / potential national rural movements.
- Developing community skills undertake their own research, dialogue with policy makers, project development and implementation
- Providing opportunities for local communities to experience, share and implement good practice from within and without the EU.
- Sharing and teaching practical tools and advice for village development
Promoting the importance of the rural areas and people
- Raising awareness at national and EU levels about the extent, knowledge, experience and needs of rural communities
- Facilitating joint discussion between local communities and policy makers
- Enabling the voice of rural communities to reach decision makers at regional, national and EU levels
- Enabling local engagement in consultations on EU policies
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