Scotland: National Rural Network
The first UK National Rural Network conference took place in Belfast in March. It was an interesting and inspiring two day event with presentations, workshops on a range of issues, study visits and even a ceilidh!
The UK National Rural Network is a hub to link the four UK National Rural Networks: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. A full report will be made available on the UK National Rural Network website, so we just want to give you a flavour of the event here. Below you'll find our top ten observations and impressions from the conference- things that inspired us and made us think.
Gerallt Llewelyn Jones from Mentor Môn in Wales gave a really though provoking presentation early on day one of the conference to give delegates some ‘Food for Thought'. He's worked on the ground in rural development in Wales for 15 years. He said, "the hardest lesson we've learnt is cooperation and networking . . . raising our eyes off the page and looking with a wide angle lens". He said there was always something to be gained from looking at what other people are doing.
2. Take good ideas to your own contextPaul Keating from the Irish National Rural Network said rural development is all about making things work for you - your capabilities, context and so on. It's about taking good ideas and taking them into your own contexts.
During the post lunch refresher, ran by Mr Keating, delegates wrote on a post it notes one word that summed up rural development for them. We went round the room swapping and reading post it notes. We then wrote on post its the words that resonated with us. There were about 200 people in the room and the top three words at the end of the session were:
One of the points raised during feedback from the 'Forestry and Woodland' workshop was that there is a mismatch between aspirations and the ability to realise them. The will was there to engage in forestry, and it is happening in some areas, but in others delivery is patchy. Participants felt there should be better communication and information transfer between delivery bodies and beneficiaries. It was also suggested that there is a need to find ways of capturing an economic benefit to landowners of "non-timber" outputs.
5. Interest in heritage tourism projectsDuring the Rural Tourism workshop I attended, there were discussions about the potential and popularity of heritage tourism projects, particularly around churches and graveyards. The Welsh LEADER project Open Church Network was discussed as an example of good practice. Sixteen churches are working together in partnership to promote their buildings to visitors. A leaflet for each church has been produced. These form a package of leaflets available in the churches, visitor information centres and so on.
(This interest in church and graveyard projects is something we've noticed at the Scottish National Rural Network. In our Featured Projects section you can read about the Arrochar Cemetery project and the Logie Old Graveyard Group.)
John Davies, of the European Network for Rural Development thematic working group ‘Agriculture and the wider rural economy' gave an interesting update on their work. From the group's initial findings, he said agriculture is an influential economic contributor in all areas, but it should not be viewed in isolation to other economic activities.
Dr Kate Braithwaite from the Carnegie UK Trust gave a keynote speech on the second day of conference. She said there was a time when rural development was seen as the poor relation to urban regeneration - but the tide is turning and rural areas are now leading the way. Dr Braithwaite said that rural areas will be stewarding resources, such as food and energy, for the country as a whole.
One of the key points fed back from the ‘Eating Well - Eating Local' workshop was the need for effective collaboration throughout the supply chain. For example, abattoirs unable to kill single animals, and the power of large food businesses, is a constraint in establishing local food initiatives.
9. Mentors to assist youth-led applicationsThe ‘Building for the Future' workshop looked at youth work and engaging young people in rural development. It was an excellent workshop run by Youth Action Northern Ireland and Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster. One of the key suggestions that came up during their sessions was the provision of a mentor to assist with young people led applications to the Rural Development Programmes.
Delegates were treated to ice cream from two local companies during the afternoon coffee break. Not only was the ice cream absolutely delicious - my favourite was the chocolate mint chip - it was an excellent talking point and made for a lively break. It was also an excellent way of showcasing some of Northern Ireland's local produce and enterprises that had benefited from Rural Development Programme funding there.
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