SHERPA Final Conference

SHERPA Final Conference took place on 1-2 June 2023, at the European Committee of the Regions, Brussels (Belgium).

Since October 2019, SHERPA has worked on formulating recommendations for the future of rural areas in a variety of key topics. SHERPA has also accompanied the development of the EU Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas with the ambition to contribute to future rural policies. The SHERPA Final Conference provided the final opportunity to look back at the work done and identify, by using a co-creative participatory approach, the main SHERPA recommendations, as well as reflect on the methodology of using Science-Society-Policy interfaces. The conference gathered members of its 41 Science-Society-Policy interfaces in Brussels.

Participants had the opportunity to:

Co-create SHERPA’s contribution to the EU Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas, with a specific focus on the potential adjustments of the EU Rural Action Plan.
Co-create SHERPA’s recommendations for the wider policy framework, with a specific focus on the policy orientation for the next EU policy cycle (i.e. after 2027).
Explore how the Science-Society-Policy interfaces created in SHERPA can continue to contribute to rural policies after the end of the SHERPA project in September 2023.

Agenda

Report

Presentations

1 June 2023

Introduction

Welcome speech, Radim Sršeň (Mayor of Dolni Studenky, Deputy Minister of regional development of Czechia, member of the European Committee of the Regions)
Welcome to the SHERPA Final Conference! Olivier Chartier and Elodie Salle (Ecorys)
Rural corridor, Carla Lostrangio (AEIDL)

Contribution to the EU Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas – Prosperous and
Connected rural areas

SHERPA’s recommendations for Prosperous and Connected rural areas, Gerald Schwarz (Thünen-Institut)

Contributing to the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas – Stronger and Resilient
rural areas

SHERPA’s recommendations for stronger and resilient rural areas, Giulia Martino (Ecorys)

2 June 2023

Contribution to the wider policy framework

Presentation of 3 EU policy options for rural areas after 2027 and Introduction to the budgetary exercise, Olivier Chartier and Elodie Salle (Ecorys)

Pitches on the building blocks of the EU Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas – four rural priorities

Pitch on stronger rural areas, Barbara Soriano (Polytechnic University of Madrid)
Pitch on connected rural areas, Gianluca Brunori (University of Pisa)
Pitch on resilient rural areas, Harriet Bradley (Institute for European Environmental Policy)
Pitch on prosperous rural areas, Živilė Gedminaitė-Raudonė and Rita Lankauskienė (Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences)

Pitches on rural interventions

Pitch on rural cooperation, Iwona Woch (Local Action Group Zielone Bieszczady)
Pitch on rural investment, Monica Tudor (Institute of Agricultural Economics – Romanian Academy)
Pitch on rural skills, Dominique Barjolle (ETH Zurich)
Pitch on rural communities, Samuel Féret (CIHEAM Montpellier)

Science-Society-Policy interfaces

Key lessons on actor engagement in rural development, Jorieke Potters (Wageningen University) and Leneisja Jungsberg (Nordregio)
Sustaining the value and benefits of Science-Society-Policy interfaces, Leneisja Jungsberg (Nordregio)
The Rural Pact, Pascale Van Doren (Rural Pact Support Office)

Pitches on the added value of Science-Society-Interfaces

Grounding the discussion on evidence-based science, Isolina Rodríguez (MAP Galicia)
Creating meaningful dialogue, Anne-Liisi Mändmets (MAP Estonia)
Influencing policy, Olga Kriezi (MAP Central Greece)

RURAL CORRIDOR

Throughout the entire duration of the SHERPA Final Conference, a Rural Corridor took place. The primary objective of this corridor was to foster networking, encourage knowledge transfer, and facilitate new connections for future collaborations. Within the Rural Corridor, attendees had the opportunity to discover SHERPA’s main thematic outputs and engage with other European-funded projects.