Rural Inspiration Awards 2020 - Projects Brochure

The Rural Inspiration Awards (RIA) were the ENRD’s EU-wide rural development good practice competition celebrating inspiring projects that use funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) to contribute to rural development policy objectives. The competition is about increasing the visibility of individual projects and of the role played by rural development policy, while also promoting knowledge transfer and networking among rural development actors.

The RIA 2020 edition celebrated EAFRD-funded initiatives that are promoting rural climate action and the bioeconomy. These topics, which have been the focus of the past ENRD thematic work, are a key part of EU rural development policy priorities and are at the forefront of the wider EU and global policy agenda. Climate action was also at the heart of the EU efforts to secure a ‘green and digital recovery’ from the COVID-19 pandemic, which acknowledges the vital role of farmers and rural areas in the green transition.

In that context, RIA 2020 received 71 applications from 18 EU countries across three Award categories: Climate Change Mitigation, Bioeconomy and Climate Change Adaptation.

This edition of the EAFRD Projects Brochure provides additional visibility to the 15 finalists of RIA 2020. It highlights the relevance of each project to rural development and other EU policy objectives, particularly the European Green Deal.