Scotland: National Rural Network
Connecting Rural Scotland - Promoting Rural Growth

The Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) is a £1.6 billion programme of economic, environmental and social measures designed to develop rural Scotland over the next six years. Individuals and groups may seek support to help deliver the Government's strategic objectives in rural Scotland.

You can find more information on the Scottish Government's SRDP website and in our Rural Development section.

The Scotland National Rural Network website aims to connect rural Scotland in all its diversity to promote economic growth and community development.

The website plays a central role in the Scottish National Rural Network which forms one of four linked UK rural networks.

The website is a Scottish Government initiative, hosted and developed by Sopra Group with content and editorial services provided by the Rural Team at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.

For more information on the aims of the site visit our Mission and Purpose section.

The Scotland National Rural Network has been developed by the Scottish Government as an obligation under EU Rural Development Regulations, and part of four linked UK networks and a wider European network.

The Scotland National Rural Network aims to:

• encourage connectivity, strengthening rural perspectives, sense of place and locally specific solutions
• help with the exchange of good practice
• support rural development
• enhance Scotland's international reputation

There are three elements to the Scotland National Rural Network:

• The Scotland National Rural Network website
• National event
• Regional stakeholder groups

LEADER is part of the Scotland Rural Development Programme, aimed at promoting economic and community development within rural areas. It replaces the Leader+ programme that ran from 2000 to 2006, and encourages new and experimental approaches to rural development. LEADER is a bottom-up method of delivering support for rural development through implementing a local rural development strategy. Support is aimed primarily at small-scale, community driven projects that are pilot and innovative in nature.

You can find out more information in our LEADER section. You'll also find many examples of LEADER projects in our projects database and featured projects sections. You can keep up to date with the latest rural funding news in our Rural Development section.

Rural Priorities is a competitive fund to deliver targeted environmental, social and economic benefits. Rural Priorities is part of the Scotland Rural Development Programme. You can find further information on Rural Priorities including contact details for your local Regional Proposal Assessment Committee in our Rural Priorities section.

You can keep up to date with all the latest rural development funding news in our Rural Development section.

You can enjoy the site without being a member but to get the full benefits you'll need to register. Once you've registered you'll be able to subscribe to our popular and informative email newsletters, start discussion forums, post in the bulletin board and add comments to all our articles. Register here.

Our fortnightly email newsletters will deliver all the latest news from the website direct to your inbox. To sign up for our newsletters simply register as a member of the Scotland National Rural Network website and select to receive our newsletters.

If you've missed an issue of the newsletter, don't worry. You'll find all issues in our Newsletter archive.

The Scotland National Rural Network website offers a range of opportunities for sharing good practice, information and knowledge across rural Scotland. There are a variety of ways to get involved with the website, from becoming a regular contributor to voting in our regular polls. You can find out about all the different ways to participate in our Get involved section.

The Scotland National Rural Network website is a pre-moderated site, which means that the editor must check and approve content before it is published on the site. Comments added to articles, forum postings and bulletin board postings will be moderated as soon as possible after submission and normally within 24 hours.

You can find out more by checking our Community Guidelines.

Our calendar features events going on across the country and further afield, from major conferences to local community events. To add your event to our calendar please fill in our online form or send the following information to editor@ruralgateway.org.uk:

• Title of event
• Event details
• Summary
• Event organiser
• Venue
• Cost
• Who should attend?
• Date
• Time/duration
• Contact name
• Telephone number
• Fax (if applicable)
• Email address
• Website (if applicable)

User contributions are a vital part of the Scotland National Rural Network website and we're always happy to receive your articles. You could submit a one-off article about a conference you've attended, write a special report on a rural issue, take part in one of our regular features, participate in our featured projects section or become a regular contributor and start a column.

If you're interested in taking part in regular features or becoming a regular contributor contact the editor at editor@ruralgateway.org.uk or call 01463 251 733. If you have written an article or special report for the website you can submit it using our online form. Articles submitted will appear on the site within 24 hours of approval.

Our projects database contains rural projects from across Scotland, many of them LEADER projects. We aim for the database to be as comprehensive as possible, but it will take time and your help to build up.
If you're project isn't in our projects database you can email details to norette.ferns@scvo.org.uk for inclusion. The following information is required:

• Name of project
• Region
• Short description of project, e.g. its aims, who's involved
• Funding information if available
• Contact details, including website if appropriate