Save the date for the Rural Pact Conference 15 & 16 June 2022
We are glad to confirm that the Rural Pact conference will, welcoming 450 people, will take place on 15 & 16 June 2022 in Brussels. We are hoping to open registrations towards the end of April. We are looking forward to welcoming you, listening to you and sharing your ideas on how to make this Pact a pillar of the Long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas with all levels of governance and economic sectors.
All EU institutions and the European Rural Parliament representatives are cooperating to build an exciting programme and practical proposals to share with you and get your opinion on how to run the Rural Pact in the coming years. The event will include high-level plenaries, in which political leaders from European, national, regional and local level will present proposals and show how each level of governance can act for rural areas. It will also include around fifteen bottom-up breakout sessions, in which all participants will be invited to voice their views on how to manage the Rural Pact, exchange their experience and propose specific actions they can take to contribute to achieving the vision’s shared goals. It will also provide many opportunities to network. Plenary sessions will be web streamed for those of you who cannot attend the event in person.
How can you contribute?
Many of you have been wondering how to contribute. In the run-up to the conference, we encourage you to:
- raise awareness in your country, region, local area, organisation or specific field on the potential of rural areas and their strategic importance for the future of Europe,
- organise or participate in discussions in your country, region, local area, organisation or field on concrete actions you can promote or new actions you can take to contribute to the shared goals of the long term vision for rural areas from now until 2040.
These actions can be things that you do already, which you would like to strengthen and which could inspire others. We would also like to find out about new and upcoming inspiring initiatives.
We would love to hear about you and your actions, new initiatives and discussions taking place all over the rural EU: you can promote them on social media using #RuralPact. This will help us follow your activities and further disseminate.
At the conference, you will have two opportunities to bring in the outcomes of your reflections:
- during break-out sessions on 15th June in the morning, looking at possible actions at various levels of governance (national, regional and local) or by stakeholder organisations;
- during the break-out sessions on 16th June, looking at possible actions in various specific fields or themes covering all aspects of rural life.
The proposed actions coming out of these sessions will be integrated in the Rural Pact’s work programme.
In addition, we are working on a survey to be published towards the end of April to collect your proposals and prepare for a first draft of the Rural Pact’s work programme.
Contact and information
We look forward to seeing you in June in Brussels. In the meantime, you can contact us at EU-RURAL-PACT-CONFERENCE@ec.europa.eu and follow developments on the Rural Pact conference webpage.