ERP 2022 Reports
Up to 350 ERP-partners and friends came together in Kielce12-15.9.2022 to express their views and voices on rural future. The host and the ERP-organising Team wish that you had a good time meeting and discussing with people all around Europe. Please find below the workshop and Café reports. A more analytical report will follow.
5th ERP Declaration:
European Rural Parliament Manifesto 2022:
European Rural Parliament Leaflet 2023:
All the other documents (Workshops, Reports...):
Michael Dower
Our wonderful friend, mentor and supporter, Michael Dower, sadly passed away on Monday November 7, 2022, just a week before his 89th birthday. In his lifetime, Michael was a force in European rural development. He was instrumental in developing the European Rural Parliament partnership and process, including co-ordinating and writing the foundational document ‘All Europe shall Live’, based on a survey of all of our European Partners, from which he developed the first ERP Manifesto at the 2nd ERP Gathering in Austria in 2015. These have remained our baseline documents.
In addition to the ERP, Michael’s work in rural development was extensive. He co-founded and served as coordinator of PREPARE - Pre-accession Partnership for Rural Europe, supporting the launch of many national and regional rural movements and rural parliaments in Central and Eastern Europe. He founded and served as President of ECOVAST – the European Council for the Village and Small Town. He co-founded and animated the European Agricultural Convention (EAC), now ARC2020. He was a very active member of Forum Synergies and many other European civic initiatives. He was co-creating the CURE - Convention for Urban and Rural Europe.
Prior to his post-retirement activism in European rural civil society, Michael managed the Peak District National Park in England; was Director General of the Countryside Commission for England and Wales; and was Professor of European Rural Development at the University of Gloucestershire. He edited and promoted the European Landscape Convention for the Council of Europe.
Michael was passionate about rural areas, their people, landscapes, land use and ecology. In the later years of his life, he worked tirelessly to advocate on the climate change emergency, and led local woodland management projects, working with school children, where he lived in Dorset, England.
Michael was, and is, an inspiration to us all. He urged us to be bold and brave and urgent in our work. His legacy lies within us and our continuing, collective work to support and develop rural Europe – our wonderful home.
Thank you Michael!
European Parliament Resolution
We are delighted to share this very positive outcome from the 3rd European Rural Parliament. The European Parliament cite directly the Venhorst Declaration in their Resolution addressing the specific needs of rural, mountainous and remote areas (2018/2720(RSP). Link:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do…
This goal of the Resolution is to activate the European Union to come up with concrete actions. We will be following the development of this process.
European Commission documents from Sibiu Romania 7th of May 2019
Citizens’ dialogues and citizens’ consultations - key conclusions
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/euco-sibiu-citizensdialogues_en.pdf
The top EU achievements 2014-2019 - Annex III
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/euco-sibiu-annex-iii_en.pdf
Key figures for the EU 2014-2019 - Annex V
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/euco-sibiu-annex-v_en.pdf