Creativity and Innovation in EU Rural Development (Dec 2009)

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Creativity and

Innovationin EU RuralDevelopment

N2EN

European Commission

The Magazine from the European Network for Rural Development

December 2009


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Managing Editor: Rob Peters, Head o Unit European Network and monitoring o rural developmentpolicy, Agriculture and Rural Development DirectorateGeneral, European Commission. Authors andcontributors: Elena Saraceno, Tim Hudson, ke Clason, Charles Abel, John Powell, Elisabeth Schwaiger,Eileen Humphreys, David Jepson, Annette Thuesen, Jon Eldridge, Justin Toland, Wendy Jones, StephenGardiner, Jonas Kupinas, Ccile Schalenbourg, Xavier Delmon, Petri Mikael Rinne, Luis Fidlschuster and

Thomas Dax. Copyright or photographs: European Communities, 19952009, Tim Hudson, NorthernIreland Governments Department o Agriculture & Rural Development, Almenland Regions EntwicklungsGMBH, Rseau de Fermes Ouvertes en Prigord, Transcotland.com, Association o Danish Small Islands,West Cork Development Partnership, Sabine Weizenegger, Annette Aagaard Thuesen, Viesoji IstaigaPlaciajuostis Internetas, Ezequiel Scagnetti, Commendium Ltd, Krista Kiv, Stephan Scholz, LanckoronaAmber Trail Association, Jnos Olh, Spass Kostov.

The contents o the publication EU Rural Review do not necessarily refect the opinions o theinstitutions o the European Union.

EU Rural Review is published in 6 o cial languages (EN, DE, FR, ES, IT, PL).

Manuscript nalised in November 2009. Original version is the English text.

European Communities, 2009Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

For additional inormation on the European Union: http://europa.eu

Printed on recycled paper that has been awarded

The EU Ecolabel or graphic paper (http://ec.europa.eu/ecolabel/)


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Table ofcontentsIn the know

FOREWORD: FROM JEAN-LUC DEMARTY, DIRECTOR-GENERAL,

EUROPEAN COMMMISSION, DG AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Rural DevelopmentsRURAL INNOVATION: EMBRACING CHANGE AS AN OPPORTUNITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

AXIS 1: SUPPORTING CREATIVITY & INNOVATION IN EU FARM, FOOD AND FOREST SECTORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

AXIS 2: INNOVATIVE AND CREATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

AXIS 3: CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION FOR RURAL DIVERSIFICATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18AXIS 4: INNOVATIVE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Rural CitizensINNOVATION IN GERMANYS ALLGU: A REGION PROMOTING ITS PIONEERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

FACILITATION AND DIALOGUE LEADS TO INNOVATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

QUOTES ABOUT INNOVATION FROM EU RURAL DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Rural FocusPARTNERS IN EU RURAL DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

COHESION POLICY, CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN RURAL AREAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

DG ENVIRONMENT: LIFE AND RURAL INNOVATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

CATALYST FOR CHANGE AIDS EUROPES RURAL AREAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

DG INFORMATION SOCIETY & MEDIA IN RURAL AREAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Rural IssuesREDUCING THE URBAN-RURAL GAP IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Rural ResearchEUROPEAN RESEARCH AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE :

INTERVIEW WITH MR JOS MANUEL SILVA RODRGUEZ, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, DG RESEARCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

EU RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IN RURAL AREAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

FOSTERING INNOVATION AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IN RURAL AREAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

COST 51: INTEGRATING INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT WITHIN EU FORESTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Rural Round-Up

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON RURAL INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60


4/64T.HUDSON

...that 2009 was the European Year o Creativity and Innovation

(EYCI), a year that highlighted the useul roles that creativity

and innovation can play in supporting economic prosperity

throughout Europes countryside. Such development goals

represented one o the main driving orces behind the EYCI

and these concepts o innovation and creativity remain vital

to the growth and sustainability o EU rural areas.

Innovation objectives are embedded in the Community

Strategic Guidelines and new measures have been introducedinto the rural development policy toolbox or this purpose,

including a measure dedicated to supporting cooperation orthe development o new products and processes.

These product and process aspects o innovation have always

been important in helping to support the sustainable growth o

rural areas, and their relevance will continue to remain equallyvaluable as rural Europe aces up to a new set o challenges.This was recognised during the Health Check o the Common

Agricultural Policy which reinorced innovation as a key priority

or EU rural development policy. Innovation is encouraged on a

very broad crosssectoral basis, and particularly so in terms otackling issues such as responding to climate change, conserving

biodiversity, maintaining water quality, harnessing renewableenergies, improving competitiveness and restructuring the

EU dairy sector.

Creative rural solutions and innovative methods are also being

encouraged through the EUs Recovery Package, which has been

introduced to tackle the global economic crisis. In addition tounderscoring eorts to address the new challenges mentioned

above, the package promotes smart investments to bridgebroadband gaps in rural areas. Our rural development policywill play a key role in supporting the innovations involved

in addressing digital divides in synergy and through novel

partnerships with other EU policies operating in rural areas.

Overall, a wide range o practical assistance or responding

to these policy rameworks is oered through the 94 Rural

Development Programmes (RDPs) and their targeted

intervention measures. This variety o options provided by

the RDPs gives rural stakeholders an array o opportunities

to create novel processes that lead to new rural developmentbenets, as well as assist the production o innovative rural

goods and services. The Leader approach is particularly suitedto promoting innovation, as shown by past experience.

In the know Did you know...


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I know rom my experience as Director-General o DG Agriculture

and Rural Development that EU rural stakeholders, be it

groups or individuals, are extremely well versed in developinginnovative products or processes and nding creative solutions

to tackle rural challenges. I have been watching with keen

interest the variety o technological and policy advances thathave been taking place over recent years in rural Europe andI am proud to have been involved in some o these importantdevelopments.

But we should remember that innovation and creativity are

not always about highlevel impacts, nor hightech invention,and a great many excellent examples o local and regional

innovative rural development actions can be ound in all 27

Member States.

Creativity and innovation are expressed in a host o dierentways throughout the EUs rural areas. For example, innovationis equally relevant to rural development activities involved

in identiying new markets, developing new partnerships oradapting proven approaches to dierent circumstances, as

it is to creating new products, introducing new services, or

testing and implementing new ways o networking betweenrural development actors.

Dissemination o good practices in these, as well as other types

o EU policy action, was a core objective o the EYCI, and thisIssue o the EU Rural Review showcases some o the dierenttypes o innovation and creativity rom EU rural areas.

Combining a review o strategic analyses with a selection o

country case studies rom across rural Europe, the publicationaims to show how EU support can be used to encourage

the wealth o innovation and creativity that exists in rural

communities. By doing so, I hope that through illustrating what

is possible in rural Europe today, we can use our knowledge tohelp create an even better rural Europe or tomorrow.

Jean-Luc Demarty

Director-General, European CommissionDG Agriculture and Rural Development

EUROPEANCOMMU

NITIES,1995-2009


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Rural innovation:embracing change as

an opportunity

Rural Developments

T.HUDSON


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As mentioned beore, 2009 wasthe European Year o Creativityand Innovation (EYCI). Actionsduring this year aimed at raising

awareness about the importance o

creativity and innovation or personal,

social and economic development. In

addition, EU institutions and partners

were encouraging the dissemination ogood practices, stimulation o education

and research, and promotion o policy

debate on related issues. The key

message behind all EYCI actions was that

creativity and innovation contribute to

economic prosperity as well as to socialand individual well being.

EYCI activities aimed at a range o

dierent groups including young people,

educators, businesses and policy-makers,

as well as the general public. Civil societyorganisations were also encouraged to

mobilise and get involved at European,national and local levels.

Innovation, Creativity andEU rural developmentpolicy

Todays EU rural development policy

builds on a history o programming which

recognises the key role and benets that

both innovation and creativity oer or

rural residents, as well as wider users oEuropes countryside.

Innovative approaches are promoted

by the Community Strategic Guidelinesor rural development and these policypriorities have been demonstrated by

the inclusion o a specic innovation

measure in the rural development

policy apparatus. Member States RuralDevelopment Programmes (RDPs)

include actions throughout the ull range

o RDP measures to oster innovation

and to nd new ways to bring economicdevelopment, social prosperity and

personal wellbeing or rural communities

and their stakeholders.

Innovation is considered particularly

important in acilitating sustainabledevelopment rameworks that balance

economic growth with the production

and protection o public goods, such

as biodiversity and other environmental

resources. Creative thinking is also an

essential tool or rural development

practitioners and policy-makers involved

in addressing undamental issues

like competitiveness, quality o lie,

diversication and territorial cohesion.

Creativity and innovation are essential ingredients or successul rural

development in the EU-27, where new and novel approaches can be ound

that address key rural challenges and help Europes countryside embrace theopportunities provided by rural support programmes.

Innovation is the ability to see changeas an opportunity not a threat

Albert Einstein

Innovation is just as relevant and potent in a rural cheese dairy, sawmill orlocal college as in a Milan design centre, the aeronautics industry o Toulouse

or the Research division o IBM. Frank Gaskell: Senator o Euromontana and their nominated expert onThematic Working Group 2 o the European Network or Rural Development


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Embracing change asan opportunity or ruralareas

Tackling these rural issues oten involves

adapting to changing circumstancesin rural areas, which may be driven

by various actors including: climate

change, demographic changes, reduced

dominance o traditional rural businesssectors, and policy developments. Suchchanges can sometimes be considered to

be problematic or rural areas but manydevelopment opportunities can actually

also be created by embracing these types

o change. The EYCI promoted conceptslike embracing change as an opportunity

and highlighted innovations role inassisting related actions.

Innovations role has also been

underscored by modiications to

mainstream EU rural development policy

that has been adapted to t with a newset o common challenges aecting rural

Europe. These new challenges refect

both Community priorities and those

emerging rom the Common Agricultural

Policy (CAP) Health Check concerning

climate change, renewable energies,

water management, biodiversity anddairy restructuring. In addition, EU

Recovery Package introduces support or

improving broadband coverage in ruralareas, which in turn is likely to promotevarious types o innovation.

Embracing and addressing these

challenges in an innovative and creativeway is a core unction o current and

uture EU rural development activity.

Strategic goals strengthen and improve

the overall quality o European ruraldevelopment processes in the ramework

o EU policies and give visibility to actions

that lead to new products.

Innovations and creative thinking

at regional, national and EU levels

are required throughout the rural

development programming process in

order to ensure that goals are achieved,and that the opportunities oered by

rural policies are eectively put to work.Innovation may not always be associated

with high-level impacts or inventions;

it may simply involve introducing

technologies and good practices

already used elsewhere and adapting

them to the particular conditions and/or

circumstances o a new place; or applying

proven concepts in a novel and more

e cient way. In this s ense innovationoten results rom intensive contacts and

cooperation with stakeholders elsewhere,

rom group work and networking and,

o course, rom interterritorial and

transnational cooperation.

Rural networks

Launched in late 2008, the European

Network or Rural Development (EN

RD) is a rural policy innovation in itsel,

as it embraces all aspects o EU ruraldevelopment policy, while in the previous

programming periods networking was

limited to the Community Initiative

Leader+. Its combination o coordinated

support services creates new possibilities

to identiy and promote appropriate rural

development actions at local, regional,

national and EU levels. The EN RD bringstogether new people in new ways and

this networking process provides an

excellent opportunity or creating

innovations that will benet a great many

rural development stakeholders.

The EN RDs unique networking unctions

allow it to act as a new policy device

that is capable o listening to what is

happening in rural areas across the EU,and use the inormation that it learns

to help national authorities enhance

the eectiveness o their specic ruraldevelopment policy actions. The EN

RD thereore embodies an innovative

methodology or supporting innovation

and creativity in rural areas. Importantpartners in this development process are

the National Rural Networks (NRNs).

NRNs represent another important

innovative eature o modern-day EU

rural development policy. No networkswith the same remit range existed priorto the current programming period andthe NRNs play a major part in osteringrural innovation, as well as acilitating the

strategic goals or EU rural development

policy.

The NRNs provide a benecial link at

Member State level between the nationaladministrations and the variety o

stakeholders working in dierent aspects

o rural development. Their structure and

organisation can dier rom country to

country but in all cases their main role

is to support the implementation and

evaluation o rural development policy.

Examples o National Rural Network aims

include:

Exchanging inormation and

encouraging communication

between rural stakeholders via

conerences, meetings, training

sessions, publications and the EN RD

website

Identiying, analysing and

disseminating good transerable

practices via thematic studies, case

studies and award schemes

PHOTO PROVIDED BY NORTHERN IRELAND GOVERNMENTS

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT


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The preparation o training o Local

Action Groups (LAGs) in the process

o ormation

Supporting cooperation projects by

raising awareness about opportunities,

assisting partner search processes,providing project mentoring

services and advising on partnership

management.

Many NRNs are in their early stages o

development and, as Henk Kiet rom the

Netherlands NRN says, We are keen toexplore how the NRN can get stakeholders

involved and we expect this to be an

ongoing job. He continues that: We

want to bring dierent interest together

because we know that innovation willbe inspired by unexpected and new

connections.

Maria Gustasson, rom Swedens NRN

sees their network as an arena or mutual

learning and cooperation. She underlines

the point that We understand the

importance o motivating our membersand we try to ensure that people get

something rom involvement in the

network. This is very important since

without our members we will not be able

to properly analyse the progress that isbeing made in rural areas, nor appreciatethe innovations and changes that might be

occurring in specic regions or sectors.

Camillo Zaccarini Bonelli rom the

Italian Rural Network (ISMEA) endorses

their approach to supporting eective

implementation o EU rural developmentpolicy. He believes that: Our inclusive

approach oers a good mechanism to

identiy actual needs and inormation

gaps with respect to the new

challenges and all other aspects o ruraldevelopment policy. He describes howWe use regional antennae to provide

us with bottomup inormation and thisis supplemented by our thematic task

orces. Our innovative methodology helps

us to widen participation and maximiseuse o existing rural development knowhow. We even include people rom other

countries in our NRN.

Fostering innovation

NRNs are aware o the benets that

creative approaches oer or rural

communities and their innovative

work programmes contributed to EYCI

objectives. This includes encouraging

LAGs to broaden their actions across

all our RDP axes. Indirect support or

rural innovation is also encouragedvia dissemination o a multiplicity o

good practices in dierent topic areas

covering arming and ood, orestry,

environmental management, tourism,

energy and community services.

The EN RD website plays an important

role in acilitating inormation exchangesbetween the NRNs and other rural

development stakeholders. This is

highlighted by the EN RD Contact

Points Team Leader, Haris Martinos, who

explains, The Internet presents us withmany opportunities to encourage new

ways o networking between a wider

range o EU rural development actors

than ever beore. The EN RD website hasbeen designed with this goal in mind and

it includes innovative interactive tools

that will help transer knowledge andbuild capacity among its users.

The EN RD website provides a platormor disseminating good practices. The

ollowing our articles eature a collection

o interesting innovative approaches

to rural development activity. These

show how the EUs rural development

policy axes can contribute to innovation

objectives and illustrate some o the

benets that have been gained rom

working in new ways, developing new

products and services, or adapting proven

approaches to new circumstances.

Innovation and creativity remain relevant across a broad spectrum

o dierent rural development activities, stretching rom policy

programming to project implementation. Within this range the basicconcepts o innovation and creativity are commonly expressed by anumber o interrelated actions.

Working in new ways can involve a multitude o developmentapproaches that: apply new ideas, use new techniques, ocus on

alternative markets, bring diverse sectors and stakeholders togethervia new networking methods, support new priority groups, or nd new

solutions to social, economic and environmental challenges.

Developing new products and services oten result rom

innovative ways o working and can be created through the application

o new or novel techniques, technology, processes, partnerships,

research and thinking.

Adapting proven approaches to new circumstances is also

recognised as a highly eective means o creating locally signicant

innovative rural developments. These types o innovative action are oten

acilitated by knowledge transer between regions or Member States.

Innovation is searching,fnding and sharing.

Rob Janmaat,Netherlands Rural Network


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Supporting creativity& innovation in EUfarm, food and forest

sectors

Axis 1

EUROPEANCOMMUNITIES

,1995-2009


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Competition in the arm, orestand ood sectors intensiiesapace, putting a real premium oncreativity and innovation. Axis 1 o the EUs

rural development policy aims to help by

providing opportunities or new products

and services, encouraging dierent ways

o working, and acilitating access to

alternative markets, technologies and

processes.

Successes in such areas or arm and orest

businesses will be determined by the

support provided by Rural Development

Programmes (RDP) to axis 1 beneciaries

to apply conventional modernisation and

competitiveness measures in innovative

and creative ways. Scope exists within the

measures to acilitate these goals and anumber o measures are well placed toallow innovative practices.

For example, axis 1 measures areproactively promoting innovation in

EU arm and orest sectors by providingsupport to improve technical and

economic expertise or armers and

oresters through vocational training,

inormation supplies and advisory

services. Other unds are available in axis

1 or investing in innovative technologies

and or promoting cooperation between

armers, the processing industry and

other actors to develop new products

and processes.

New products and processes

Cooperation approaches are avoured, typically between stakeholders and researchentities, or the purpose o improving and promoting the quality and saety o

agricultural products, thus responding to consumer demands and providing themwith assurances. A new measure (124) has been introduced to support this type orural development work and it eatures specic support or cooperation during thedevelopment o new arm and orest products.

Several RDPs have taken advantage o the opportunities provided by measure 124 and

Table 1 summarises some o the measures uses in dierent countries. The list is notexhaustive and provides an indication o the innovation measures fexible scope.

Table 1:Sample o Member State priorities or measure 124 actions

Axis 1 development unding provides new opportunities or supporting the

adoption o creativity and innovation to raise competitiveness in Europes arm

and orestry sectors.

Country Focus o measure 124 includes (inter alia)

Sweden Increased cooperation with research institutions

Estonia Enhancing ood quality and achieving energy savings

DenmarkDeveloping new e cient processes and technologies that minimise

environmental problems

Czech RepublicInvestments related to the development o new agricultural

and ood products and the application o new processes and

technologies in crop or animal production

Netherlands New organisational methods in business operations

MaltaImproving links between armers and processors to develop

marketing expertise

Portugal(mainland)

Improvement o services in supply chains


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Locally signicant innovation creates valuablerural employment in Estonia

Innovation is oten associated with the transer o proven

approaches to new circumstances and locations. This is the

case in Estonia where renewable energy technology rom

Spain has been successully adapted by an entrepreneurial

armer in Harju County. The result o such locally signicant

innovative action, supported by axis 1, is a new high-tech

bioethanol plant that has generated valuable new agriculturalemployment, introduced new rural skill sets, increased arm

business competitiveness, as well as created a variety o neweconomically viable environmental benets.

The armer, Mr Ants Pak, secured axis 1 unds rom measure

123 to help take orward his innovative venture. Based on thepremise o providing new opportunities or adding value to

agricultural products, particularly the sugar beets grown on

Mr Paks 250-ha arm, the new plant is currently capable o

producing 5 000 litres o bioethanol per day rom processingwaste vegetable material and sugar beet.

Tangible results have been achieved by the investment in thisalternative approach to arm diversication in Estonia, and

the successul transer o new technologies has created morethan 20 additional jobs in the sme area. Higher quality

employment is available rom the plant, representing anotherimportant innovation in terms o modernising skills within thelocal labour orce.

Eventually the Kadarbiku vegetable arm plans to produce

up to 3 000 tonnes o bioethanol every year through taking

in sugar beet rom neighbouring areas, as well as increasingits own production. These developments will urther boost

the benets produced by axis 1 support or this cuttingedgeapproach to valorising agricultural products.

Not only does Mr Paks new plant help saeguard the

competitiveness o his and other arms, but the locally important

socio-economic innovation also helps contribute to wider global

environmental goals. Key knockon benets provided by thebioethanol production include e ciency gains rom using

vegetable waste to uel the production process, and wastes rom

the bioethanol plant itsel are recycled or livestock odder.

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The range o opportunities provided bymeasure 124 highlights how its fexibility

can help urther boost innovation

outcomes rom axis 1 activities. This

point is reiterated by experience rom

Wales in the UK where measure 124 isbeing implemented through a Supply

Chain E ciencies s cheme. The novel

scheme has already helped nance some

20 projects and Neil Howard rom the

UKs Welsh Assembly Government notes,

A key advantage o measure 124 is thefexibility to support more speculative

research-based projects where there are

high levels o innovation and uncertainuture benets.

Innovation is about customer ocus andmeeting their ever changing needs, bothin terms o new products and services ornew ways o delivering them.

Trainer Paul McCarthy,

Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority

Innovation potential

Axis 1 support may thereore be considered quite signicant in terms o its potentialor acilitating dynamic and innovative developments in arm and orestry sectorsand contributing to growth in rural areas.

Achieving these policy goals relies in part on the adoption o good practices acrossMember States, since innovations developed in one area or sector can multiply theirbenets when disseminated across the wider EU. The ollowing case studies illustrate

interesting good practices in innovative axis 1 activity rom around the EU.

KRISTAKIV


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Innovative mobile approaches improve

competitiveness o German dairy armsInnovation within axis 1 aims to improve rural competitiveness

and this remains a particular policy priority or Europes dairysector during its current restructuring process. One means ostrengthening the viability o dairy businesses is by adding

value to their basic products but investment costs involved

in such development activity may be di cult to nance or

smallscale armers. Such diversication also represents risksthat armers may nd o-putting. However, these concerns

have been overcome by an innovative project rom southernGermany that provides mobile cheese-making acilities or dairy

armers in the Chiemgau region (Bavaria). Although the projectwas nanced via the national German programme RegionenAktiv and not through an RDP, it is a good example o how

innovation can help add value to products.

Being a new and innovative way o producing cheese, important

operational parameters were unknown at rst and government

support has helped to ensure that the mobile technology is

well suited to local circumstances. Inventive solutions were

identied to overcome uncertainties about whether to produce

sot, hard or dry cheeses? How to uel the process? Should itbe built in a trailer or orm part o a van? Answers were oundto these key questions concerning new uses or conventional

cheesemaking techniques, and the result involves a custommade compact trailer containing two gas-powered cheese

vats. These are capable o processing 1 200 litres o milk andspecialising in production o both traditional hard cheeses

as well as soter varieties suitable or premium packaging in

slices (Schnittkse).

Farmers rom the Chiemgau region have welcomed the

valorisation opportunities oered by this new low-cost and

minimal risk mobile cheesemaking acility. Demand rom thelocal dairy sector continues to grow and the new technologyhas demonstrated its ability to operate in dierent locations,almost around the clock, or at least 250 days a year. Clientelerange rom small armers producing niche products in limitedbatches to larger-scale customers seeking to process substantial

volumes o milk on a regular basis or wholesale distribution.

Hygiene and quality are monitored closely and compliance is

made easier because much o the raw milk controls alreadyoccur within the arm dairies, which helps reduce the need orexpensive investments incurred by standard cheese plants.

The simplicity o this innovation is its strength and such a

creative approach to improving dairy arm competitiveness

remains relevant to many other producers across Europe. Further

inormation about the project is available rom Germanys

National Rural Network ([email protected]).

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STEPHANSCHOLZ


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Innovativeand creativeenvironmentalmanagementsolutions

Axis 2

Axis 2 o the EUs rural development policy addresses environmental concerns

and land management issues in arming activities. Innovation acquires a

dierent meaning in this case because it is driven by the increasing sensibility

in society and the need to continuously search or more sustainable arming

practices in rural areas.

T.HUDSON


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I

nnovations role in EU rural

development policy is highlighted inthe Community Strategic Guidelines or

Rural Development with reerence to itspotential to achieve particularly positive

eects in meeting the new challenges

o climate change, the production o

renewable energies, more sustainable

water management practices and

halting biodiversity decline. Support orinnovation in these areas could take theorm o encouraging the development,take-up and application o relevant

technologies, products and processes,

(Council Decision 2009/61/EC amending

the guidelines on rural development). Thekey actors in this process are armers and

oresters. The challenge is to go beyondwhat is required by law as good practiceand this opens up a wide eld o options

or experimentation that can oten leadto innovative solutions.

Axis 2 o the EU rural development

policy oers dierent options or

addressing environmental concerns to

rural development stakeholders, such as

through actions that include (inter alia):

Enhancing biodiversity by conserving

species-rich vegetation types and

protecting or maintaining grassland

and extensive orms o agricultural

production

Improving water management

capacity in terms o sustaining

quantity and preserving quality

Contributing to curbing emissions

o nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane

(CH4)

Helping to promote carbon

sequestration.

Helping to nd solutions to environmental

issues like these underscored the typeso actions that were encouraged by

the EYCI, and rural development actorsare already contributing, directly or

indirectly, to promote creativity and

innovation capacity in these elds. Axis2 contributions to this process are otenassociated with nding new methods and

processes to improve the countryside,

protect the environment and address

the new challenges emphasised in the

Health Check o the Common Agricultural

Policy (CAP).

Challenges identiied by the CAP

Health Check include the issues noted

above and creative solutions to addressenvironmental or climate-related

questions in rural areas are driven by

growing social concerns about very

concrete threats to the sustainability olocal livelihoods. This gives a compelling

urgency to the innovation eort and

makes it a collective endeavour, aimed

at helping to provide important public

goods.

Creative thinking

Axis 2 can be used to support creative

thinking or saeguarding the EU

environment and promoting public

goods. New approaches to land

management methods oer scope

or such innovation and, as Clunie

Keenleyside, Research Fellow at the UKsInstitute or European Environmental

Policy explains, this could meanadapting a well-tried grazing method or

use in other arming systems, or taking a

landscapescale approach to woodlandmanagement as a way o coping with the

longterm eects o a changing climate.One thing all axis 2 innovations share isthe common aim o nding sustainableenvironmental management solutions

or our rural areas.

Success actors

Key success actors involved in optimising

creativity and innovation or axis 2outputs are noted by Pille Koorberg

rom Estonias Agricultural Research

Centre who believes that Innovation

does not happen in a vacuum and

creative thinking is oten helped by good

communication between well inormedpeers. The EN RD provides such a platorm

or communication and I am involved

in an EN RD Thematic Working Group

that is exploring new ideas linked to theway that public goods, like biodiversity

and other environmental benets, aredelivered by agriculture.

Other success actors include axis 2s

ability to support innovative rural

development processes that result

in new ways o armers and oresters

working together in coordinated groupactions. Equally important is the creation

o new knowledge about how to make

the best use o axis 2 measures. The

learning involved in these and other

axis 2 development processes can have

important transerability value, and thisincludes learning rom mistakes as wellas successes.

Some o these success actors are

demonstrated in the ollowing case

studies that provide a snapshot o howinnovation and creative thinking are

being applied by axis 2 stakeholders.

I youre not ailing every now and again,its a sign youre not doing anything veryinnovative.

Woody Allen, Director and writer


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Innovative cooperativeapproaches to agrienvironmental action in the

NetherlandsInnovation in rural development can

be achieved by exploring new ways

o working. Cooperation between

stakeholders oten proves benecial

and can lead to a range o synergies

that individuals could not achieve romworking alone. A good example o

innovative cooperation can be ound inthe Netherlands where Environmental

Cooperatives have been adopting novel

approaches to the implementation oagrienvironmental measures.

Environmental Cooperative models remain

unique to the Netherlands, but other

Member States are also showing interest

in the Dutch model as a new way o helping

arming and orestry work together to make

positive environmental contributions.

Cooperatives tend to cover a single

uniied area and coordinate their

environmental management actions

at a territorial level. Such an approachcan encompass many dierent, oten

neighbouring, land owners at the sametime, which is important since wildlie

habitats commonly stretch across a range

o land holdings. Works coordinated

by the cooperatives include species

protection, water quality maintenance

and landscape management.

Around 125 Environmental Cooperatives

are currently operating across the

Netherlands, comprising members romarming, orestry and other rural interests.

Studies have conrmed the eectiveness

o their joint approaches to sustainableland use practices and this has been

recognised by a government agri-

environmental programme (Programma

Beheer), which includes special acilities to

support nationally nanced collaborative

agri-environmental actions. These are

designed to add value to the mainstream

EU agri-environmental schemes

payments, which continue to ocus on

providing compensation to individual

armers or loss o income oregone,

and so are not specically tailored or

encouraging cooperative approaches.

An innovative arrangement is in place

which allows cooperatives to receive

ees rom individual members or

services associated with guidanceabout implementing appropriate agri-

environmental actions. Membership o

the cooperatives also provides access toagri-environmental contracts nanced

rom domestic sources, as illustrated inFigure 1. Farmers may choose to use part

o their EU compensation payments to

und the cooperative membership ee.

Figure 1. Dutch Environmental

Cooperative model

Environmental Cooperatives also

have good working relations with

local government and are involved in

delivering various nature conservation

or environmental protection contracts

or municipalities and water authorities.Such innovative approaches to income

generation help to sustain and expandcooperative activities. Some cooperatives

have even joined orces and amalgamated

to orm larger-scale Environmental

Cooperatives. One example o this is theNoardlike Fryske Wlden EnvironmentalCooperative.

Formed rom six smaller environmentalcooperatives and agricultural associations,

the new organisation deals with an areao 50 000 ha and covers around 1 000

arm units. Core aims o the Cooperativerelate to increasing the uptake o moresustainable land management methodsin their region via adopting territorial

and collective approaches towards

solving environmental problems. Key

innovations include dierent methods

towards the use o manure and

collective production o green energy.Biodiversity benets rom the critical

mass o participants implementing

coordinated agri-environmental action

and the Cooperatives strategic viewpoint

also acilitates eective landscape

management. This helps urther support

the regional economy through improving

recreational acilities or tourists, and also

contributes to the quality o lie or localresidents.

In addition to the aorementioned

environmental gains achieved by joined-

up approaches, like those demonstrated

by the Noardlike Fryske Wlden members,

the Dutch Environmental Cooperative

models also oer a number o other

useul advantages. These include lower

administration costs or governmentssince national schemes can be awardedto a single cooperative, rather than

many land holders. Such benets also

extend to acilitating more cost e cientmonitoring o agri-environmental

measures. Furthermore, Cooperatives

provide government with an innovativesingle contact point or disseminating

inormation to a large number o

stakeholders.

Rural Development Programme

axis 2 agri-environment funds

The Netherlands naonal

agri-environment programme

(Programma Beheer)

Environmental Cooperave

Coop member

Contracts (C)

Coop member Coop member Coop member

C CCC

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Creating new solutions orevaluating axis 2 measures inAustria

Evaluation o agri-environmental measures can also represent

a source o innovation. So ar evaluation approaches have

ocused on investigating the extent that species diversity andhabitat diversity have been maintained or enhanced by agrienvironmental measures.

New monitoring indicators, like the High Nature Value Farmland

indicators, introduced or the 20072013 programmes seek tobuild on such evaluation experience. These require Member

States to create new solutions or evaluating more precisely

the impact o agri-environmental actions. Austrias experience

provides an interesting insight in the innovations going on inthis eld.

Around 75% o Austrian arms are involved in the nationalagri-environmental programme, which covers some 85% o

the area under agricultural use. This represents one o the

highest participation rates in the EU and eective evaluationapproaches have become extremely important. Novel systems

have been put in place to map any changes in Austrias HNVresource bases.

These apply a new set o nationwide data concerning the

distribution o threatened habitat types that are dependent

on extensive agricultural land use. Habitat inormation is being

complemented by a compilation o armland bird species,

since these are increasingly used as an indicator to measure

biodiversity trends in agricultural areas. The combination o

both data sets provides Austrian authorities with a source obaseline gures or the extent o potential HNV armland area at

regional levels. More detailed analysis is now being produced to

map this area-level inormation against arm-level data covering

management parameters such as live stock units per hectare

(LU/ha) and extensive grassland usage.

Development o Austrias new approach provides an innovative

mechanism or monitoring HNV armland, since trends in thisbiodiversity indicator can now in part be measured by analysing

data available rom the IACS Database. The Austrian model also

acknowledges that additional data rom other sources helps to

strengthen the accuracy o this arming-system based approach

or dening and measuring HNV armland.

Other innovative additions to the Austrian agri-environmental

evaluation toolkit include the development o a grid network

or the evaluation o biodiversity. The grid network is basedon 600 sampling plots throughout Austria. Some o the sitesincorporate established monitoring locations (containing useul

archives o previous projectrelated data) and other samplingsites are new. These include extending analysis o Austrian

bird species associated with agricultural land in mountainousareas to a new series o monitoring sites situated above 1200 m

rom sea level.

All ongoing evaluation o biodiversity during the current

programming period will utilise this new national network

o sampling sites. Results rom the innovation provide a moreharmonised sampling system across Austria and present a

more detailed picture o time-tracked biodiversity trends. Such

inormation is expected to be highly valuable in helping to

manage the RDPs implementation and report on its impacts.

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ALMENLANDREGIONSENTWICKLUNASGMBH


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Creativity andinnovation for rural

diversification andquality of life

Axis 3

Viable rural communities, attractive or modern living and working, rely

increasingly on the diversifcation o the rural economy and the improvement

in the quality o lie o the whole rural population, including o course armers

and their amilies. Reaching modern standards o service and income requires

creativity and innovation, since urban solutions cannot always be imported

without adaptations to the rural context. Axis 3 o the EUs rural developmentpolicy oers dierentiated opportunities to help rural communities to fnd their

own way to modern sustainability.

T.HUDSON


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Some o the key priorities o EYCI thatwere applicable or rural areas, suchas digital competence, learningto learn, social and civic competence,

sense o initiative and entrepreneurship

and cultural awareness and expressioncontinue to be addressed by Rural

Development Programmes (RDPs) with

axis 3 interventions. Training activities or

the specic needs o rural areas and thepromotion o access to ICT technologies,

especially in remote areas, have stimulated

rural tourism, e-commerce, new orms o

entrepreneurship, new products, services

and processes. Diversication o the

economy and modern services not onlyhelp to retain rural populations and avoid

out-migration, but has oten attractednew residents by oering new liestylesand green environments.

Innovation in this case implies the

combination o local know-how, old ways

o doing things, like in typical productsor artisan crats, with more ormal and

codied knowledge, adapted to modern

consumers and markets. Doing this

without losing the individuality o the

product or process requires cooperation,

experimentation, codication o practices,

transer o knowledge and training. Axis3 resources are available to help support

these innovative ideas and strengthen

the longterm viability o communities.

New ideas

Capacity to generate and apply new ideas

to the rural environment is necessary or

the diversication o the rural economyand the provision o modern services.

Innovative ideas can be generated by

mobilising the assets o rural areas thepeople, the environment, culture and

heritage in new ways. This is where

creativity is needed, since the skills andcompetences that need to be widely

dispersed among the population require

cooperation between rural stakeholders

in local projects and capabilities to

transer innovative results.

Development processes involved with

creating and implementing new ideas

take many dierent orms and regularlycomprise adapting proven approaches

to new circumstances. Results rom

such innovative actions can createlocally signicant impacts, as noted

in the previous axis 1 case study, and

adaptation methodologies also remain

highly relevant or axis 3 projects.

Knowledge transer schemes help to

acilitate this type o rural innovation,

which oten results rom cooperation

projects between regions or Member

States. Local Action Groups (LAGs) are

well placed to take up this challenge

and to use axis 4 unds through measure421, or identiying ideas rom one areathat could be adapted and applied as

new axis 3 opportunities in alternative

circumstances.

Other priorities or innovation include

addressing the problem o providing

quality products and services to rural

areas with low population densities as well

as remote rural areas, where technologies

or achieving economies o scale have

shown to be inadequate. Conversely,

issues created by counter-urbanisationin accessible rural areas present their own

set o rural development challenges that

need to be tackled, like commuting or

providing amenities to urban visitors.

Rural innovationexperience

Past programmes have provided

experience in improving the delivery o

essential services, such as childcare orskills training, which help remove barriers

to labour market participation, or in

developing tourist amenities that valorise

local environmental resources and helpto diversiy local activities. These benets

have been documented by Leader and

other rural development approaches,

which have demonstrated that rural

communities possess considerable

potential or innovation.

Communities, businesses, LAGs andother rural stakeholders are able to

build on the wealth o rural innovation

experience that exists, and the ull range

o axis 3 measures can be harnessed tohelp. Examples o such innovation and

creativity rom rural areas in Poland andIreland are presented in the ollowing

two case studies. These highlight the

synergies that can be created rom

networking local economic actors in

a critical mass, as well as the benets

available rom innovative thinking

involved in transerring proven socialeconomy models between Member

States with dierent rural developmentbackgrounds.

In Finnish Rural Development Policy,innovation is important. We have toengage in the promotion o new ideasand activities outside o the traditional sothat we can have new sources o incomein rural areas.

Mr Pentti Malinen,rural development expert romthe Consortium o Finnish Universities


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West Cork Leader Innovation Cluster, Ireland

West Cork is located in the extreme south west o Ireland. It ischaracterised by a diversity o landscape, including spectacular

coastline, a rich cultural heritage and attractive and vibrant

towns and villages. As well as a strong image, West Cork hasa proud culture o selreliance and strong local partnerships,networks and associations supported under successive

rural development policies and initiatives. Problems include

geographical isolation rom large markets, inadequacies in

the physical inrastructure, over-reliance on agriculture and

the construction sector, and poor geographical dispersal o

economic activity.

Integral to West Cork Leaders strategy plan in 200713 is

the Innovation Cluster. Axis 3-type support will be available

(via axis 4) to assist this strategic intervention, which covers

both enterprise and non-enterprise activity, linking the two

coherently. It also promotes social and economic objectives

linked to quality o lie improvements and regional branding.

The Cluster ocuses on key economic sectors with diversication

potential (ood, tourism, crat etc.), and types o development

activity and process (marketing, training and education,

development agencies, networks and associations, etc.). It

is based on earlier initiatives, in particular, the West Cork

Fuchsia Brand.

This is a business network o 160 accredited quality (branded)enterprises in ood, tourism, crat and other sectors (agriculture,

marine, retail), rst launched commercially in 1998.

Types o activity supported by the Cluster in the 200713

programme period include: development o a new Energy From

Farms programme including biouels, wind, solar, hydro andheat; piloting and evaluation o new marketing and promotional

activities or the Fuchsia Brand; development support or

diversication projects amongst Fuchsia Brand participants

in culinary tourism, crat and leisure; and consultancy and

training and or enterprises engaged in the creative arts anddigital media production; competitiveness training programme

or local enterprises, developed in association with UniversityCollege Cork; and support or strategic networks and producer

groups in agriculture, ood, sheries, tourism and energy

production.

Fuchsia Brand and its associated activities generated 106m,o which 69m remained in the region, supporting some 1 131ulltime equivalent jobs locally in 2005. This is a model wheresuccess builds on success creating a culture and support or

innovation, building up a critical mass o activity over time.

See www.uchsiabrands.com or urther inormation

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The Social EnterpriseHORYZONTY ITD in AngelicLanckorona, Poland

Social enterprises oer a variety o opportunities to initiate

innovative rural developments, particularly those relating to

quality o lie and economic diversication. Social enterprisescommonly operate where commercial businesses ail and hence

innovation remains central to their survival abilities. This is

true both in terms o the novel ways social enterprises deliverproducts and services, as well as unique and distinct types oproduct and service they provide. Common areas o operation

or social enterprises in rural areas involve supporting work

integration o unemployed people, addressing gaps in socialservices provision, and promoting new institutional orms and

civil society development.

Whilst a host o dierent social business models have been

developed in many Member States, the concept o social

enterprises remains relatively rare in a signicant number

o others. This is attributed to various reasons including the

stigma attached to collective rural development approachesimposed in some countries during previous Soviet support

systems. Other issues relate to a lack o understanding aboutthe concept or political, legal and cultural actors including

distrust o this orm o organisation. However, these trends are

now changing in countries like Poland where the eectiveness

o social enterprise approaches are becoming wider known

and this is helping to increase interest in their innovative ruraldevelopment capacities.

An example o a successul rural Polish social enterprise is

HORYZONTY ITD. This was created during EU membership

preparations as a branch o an ecological and cultural association

operating The Amber Trail rural heritage project. Founded in

Lanckorona, a village near Krakow, on the initiative o local

people, this social company aims to promote the development

o economic and social opportunities, linked to the cultural

heritage and natural resources o the area. It is actively involved

in nding new ways to create employment or young people

who typically commute to work in Krakow or other surrounding

cities.

HORYZONTY ITD is the entrepreneurial structure o the largerassociation. In keeping with the innovative axis 3-type rural

development process, its strategy is ocused on strengthening

the link with the culture and traditions o the territory through a

variety o interlinked activities. It undertakes tourism promotion

on The Amber Trail (with other tourism agencies in Hungaryand Slovakia); runs a shop selling local products (crats and

artisan); manages a caeteria (pub) and restaurant; organisesenvironmental education including workshops (pottery, history,

handicrats); and runs tourist events including study visits,conerences, and local estivals. The tourism product is basedon preserving local heritage and respect or the environmentwith activities centred on the Lanckorona Ecomuseum.

The enterprise now employs seven people who appreciate

the value o local work. The project builds on experience romprevious EU unded work including the Equal project Social

Economy on The Amber Trail and Greenways, Local Product.Creating jobs using the heritage o a neglected local village isa big challenge. The involvement o local leaders committed to

their area, and building on previous experience have been key

success actors in this innovative approach or rural Poland.

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LANCKORONAAMBERTRAILASSOCIATION


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Innovative localInnovative localdevelopmentdevelopmentstrategies andstrategies andprogrammesprogrammes

Axis 4

The Leader approach has explicitly placed innovation and creativity as one o

its objectives rom its very beginning as a Leader Community Initiative, and

now mainstreamed in Rural Development Programmes, through its potential

application across all three thematic axes o EU rural development policy. What

is innovative in the Leader approach is both the method or designing and

delivering rural policy as well as the actions supported on the ground.

EUROPEANCOMMUNITIES,1

995-2009


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Devolved development solutions or dispersed

UK rural communitiesInnovation in Leader can mean applying tailored approachesto t specic development needs in dierent rural areas. Thistechnique is well illustrated by the UKs Highland LAG which has

adopted innovative operational structures to ensure eectivebottomup support in dispersed rural communities.

Covering northern Scotlands mountainous region, the Highland

LAGs development strategy serves around 146 000 inhabitants

spread across over 23 000 km2 o some o Europes most sparsely

populated and remote land. This is a larger than average LAG

territory and as such an innovative development methodologyhas been implemented here that involves devolving decisionmaking powers down to local community level. The HighlandLAGs approach uses a network o 11 smaller rural development

groups known as Local Action Partnerships (LAPs).

LAP membership mirrors conventional LAG structures

and includes representatives rom social, economic and

environmental sectors, as well as priority groups such as

young people and women. The LAPs control their own budget

allocations and report regularly to the Highland LAG.

At local level, LAP development priorities are set out in their own

community plans. The last o these LAP plans was completed inMay 2009 and all LAPs are now proactively supporting projects

that arise in their local areas.

LAP projects and community plans eed into and complement

the Highland LAGs overall territorial development strategy. LAPs

work directly with local projects in dispersed rural communities,

while the LAGs role concentrates more on coordinating LAPoutputs and administering overall control at a strategic level.

Augmenting the LAGs innovative approach to implementingits development strategy, a second key innovation relates to the

LAG budget. This includes some 6.76 million (c. 7.6 million) oaxis 4 conance that has been combined with a urther 7. 5million (c. 8.5 million) o EU contributions rom the EuropeanRegional Development Fund (nanced through the 200713

Convergence Objective Programme or Scotland).

Useul synergies are oered by this blending o EU assistance in

rural areas which results in operational e ciencies at a strategic

level, as well as provides local communities and business with a

single, more userriendly access point or project unding.

Further inormation about the Highland Leader programme

can be ound at www.highlandleader.com

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TRANSCOTLAND.COM


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French open arms acilitate good relations

between rural actors

One o the underlying objectives or axis 4 concerns achievingeective integration o Europes arming sector into mainstream

LAG activities. The involvement o new partners is anticipatedto result in innovative approaches that help better coordinatethe ull range o social, economic and environmental interestswithin local rural development operations.

France has some interesting experience o such approaches;

these include innovative policy initiatives like the Territorial

Farming Contacts (CTEs) which aimed to re-orientate French

agriculture towards a broader and multi-sectoral approach.The original CTE models have been progressively updated

and now the Leader LAGs selected or the period 200713 areinvolved in supporting similar perspectives on the development

o rural economies which also refect environmental and social

priorities.

A noteworthy example o French LAG support or this approach

is the Open Farms Network (Rseau des ermes ouvertes). Based

in the Dordogne, and supported by the Prigord LAG, this

successul project helps armers communicate their important

rural development contributions to local villagers and citizens in

general. The overall objective is to acilitate and create a goodrelationship between armers and other rural actors.

Results in these areas have been eective and the network

continues to promote innovative actions that train armers in

how to communicate well with visitors. Other creative thinkinghas led to a series o cultural events on arms and summer

2009 saw our separate programmes o new visitor activities

in Prigords open arm network.

More inormation about the project is available at:

www.ermesouvertesenperigord.com

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RSEAUDEFERMESOUVERTESENPRIGORD


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Rural Citizens

Innovation in rural development relies heavily on the skills,

motivation and ideas o rural people. It is also perceived and

interpreted dierently by longer-term residents and more recent

ones. The ollowing articles shine a spotlight on how innovation is

perceived by dierent rural development practitioners.

T.HUDSON


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The Leader approach, covering

our LAG areas rom the BavarianAllgu region, has involved running

an ideas competition to stimulate newrural development projects. Winners othe competition are awarded the title oRegional Pioneers and over 250 entrieswere received or the rst round o thissuccessul project, which led to some 18dierent project awards. Many o thesePioneers project ideas were subsequently

integrated into the LAGs developmentstrategies, and people rom the Allgu

region hold their Pioneers in great

esteem.

Four LAGs ran a second round o the ideas

competition in search o new Pioneersduring 2009. In particular, organisers

were looking or people who wanted

to actively participate in shaping socialchange with their innovative projects,

and contribute to their region remaining

multiaceted and worth living in.

Dr Sabine Weizenegger is the managingdirector o one o the LAGs involved in

the Pioneer initiative. Her Oberallgu LAG

whole-heartedly supports the idea o

identiying regional pioneers. According

to Dr Weizenegger, agent-oriented

approaches which she encountered

and learned to appreciate in Arica beore

taking on her current job in the Allgu are an essential element o regional

development that is t or the uture.

Dr Weizenegger believes that bottom-

up approaches like civic participation

in Europe equate with the internationalaid programmes that promote helpingpeople to help themselves approachesin developing countries. In her opinion

the two concepts are basically the samething since they are both about ocusing

on local peoples needs and abilities, rom

the bottom up.

Innovation in GermanysAllgu: a regionpromoting its Pioneers

In the very south o Germany, the Allgu, our Leader areas are actively tracking

down innovative ideas and people. An ideas competition, and the active

search or Regional Pioneers, has helped promote targeted development o

innovations in the Allgu.

SABINEWEIZENEGGER


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Could you briefly explain howthe Regional Pioneers projectcame about and what themotivation behind it was?

Our Regional Pioneers initiative emergedrom a Munich-based oundation

association, Anstitung & Ertomis. The

idea was rst presented to us during 2006

by one o our cooperation partners in the

region, the Allgu Centre or Sel-Supply.

We were very enthusiastic about the

approach, right rom the start, becauseit provided a relatively simple way to nd

out about all the initiatives you never

hear o, as well as get to meet the manyinnovative and creative people who lack

a platorm. The Regional Pioneers projectprovided us with a straightorward wayto remedy that.

A central objective of yourproject is to bring innovativepeople and their ideas to thefore and to raise awarenessabout the topic of innovation.

How do you personally defineinnovation?

It is di cult to nd the right yardstick

or assessing innovation, because one

regions standard may be another regions

innovation. It is important that innovation

is always linked to urther developing

something that already exists. As ar ascontent is concerned, it may be a new

product, new product quality or a new

service, new processes, new channels

and orms o marketing, but also neworms o cooperation and organisation.As regards the quality o an innovation,the rst step is certainly to copy ideas

rom other regions, that is to say, import

projects that havent been implemented

in that orm in our region. Combining

several known elements to orm a newidea is more sophisticated. The highestlevel o innovation is creating or inventing

something completely new.

How does the actual search forPioneers work in practice?

The search or Pioneers during 2009

involved a public invitation to tender,

where Pioneers were able to benominated, or nominate themselves.

The categories were: Social Networks

and Commitment; Trade and Agriculture;

Education and Culture; Living and

Working; Quality o Lie and Leisure; andNature and Environment.

A jury is used to select the best ideas

rom Pioneers and winners are presented

at the Kempodium in Kempten later on in

the year. Winners are also eatured online

at www.anstitungertomis.de. Its a lotlike a talk show or a panel discussion,

with the exception that its not so mucho a debate but rather a stage or thePioneers to present their concepts by way

o answering questions posed by thosepresent, and to get to know each other.

SabineWeizenegger

SABINEWEIZENEGGER


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When you think of the Pioneersin your region, what motivatesthese people to committhemselves and to implementtheir own ideas?

The most important actor is your own

conviction! And all that many people

need is a tiny little push to become

active. A triggering event like an ideas

competition, promotional unds, or simply

someone saying, great idea, keep it up,

works wonders. It is interesting to notethat most o our Pioneers dont considerthemselves to be innovators. Instead,

they say things like, But what were doing

here really is nothing special.

Many Pioneers are simply not the kind

o people who are used to being in the

limelight or in top positions. They are

mostly ordinary people, but people

who lend a hand, who do what needs

to be done! Such as a pub owner with aregional menu, a school pupil with civiccommitment or a trader with an ecological

agenda. This leads me to another exciting

aspect: our Pioneers come rom all layerso society and age groups!

What do you consider to be themost important effects of yourproject?

Public recognition strengthens and

motivates the Pioneers in our region.Additionally, the joint appearance

during the presentation o their

innovative projects is oten the rst steptowards an exchange o experience andnetworking. An important eect is alsothe media reporting about individual

Pioneer project ideas. This and all otherpublicity measures within the scope o

our search or Pioneers contribute to the

development o a creative environmentin our region in which innovative thinking

is both recognised and supported, and

not dismissed as nonsense.

When you really want to promoteinnovation, you have to do away withperectionism and accept that some thingsmay go wrong in innovative projects.

In your opinion, what is neededin European rural developmentpolicy to take innovation andcreativity to a higher level?

Dedicated innovation promotionprogrammes are useul, especially i

they ocus on social, ecological and rural-

economic value added. These need to

extend beyond traditional agricultural

interests and be relevant or all sorts

o rural stakeholders. And, when you

really want to promote innovation, youhave to do away with perectionism

and accept that some things may go

wrong in innovative projects. Because

when you are absolutely sure in advance

that everything will run smoothly, thenyour project is probably not bad but

in all likelihood it is not particularly

innovative.

Innovation needs a testing ground, andinnovation support guidelines must notimply that ailure cant be permitted.

This is an area where I wish that those

responsible were more courageous.

It is also important or me that the politics

concerned with rural development

ocuses on variety. That is denitelysomething that is being promoted by

approaches like Leader.

More inormation about Sabines work

with innovative rural development is

available at:

www.anstitung-ertomis.de/opencms/

opencms/region/pioniere.html and

www.regionalentwicklungoberallgaeu.de


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Bolette van Ingen Bro has been

working with Danish rural

development and cooperationprojects or many years, during which

time dialogue between enterprises andorganisations has been at the centre oher work. Five years ago, she became

director o the Knowledge Centre or

Food Development in Holstebro and

subsequently director o a business

council. Back then, her work ocused onhelping knowledge-based worlds and

political worlds to operate together,

in order to maximise innovations

potential as a development tool or localcommunities.

In 2008, Bolette van Ingen Bro becamesel-employed and her work programme

is now spread over three key activities:

she runs her own knowledge-based rm;

she works to help create knowledge-

based jobs outside the big cities; and

she takes a proactive role in supportinginitiatives that produce jobs or women.Her current workload includes input ona project helping to add value to Danishood products, and she also provides

support during the development o a

cluster promoting cooperation between

local economic stakeholder and other

community activities. This involvesacilitating vision-and-dialogue

meetings in villages and organisations.

What does innovation mean foryou in your rural developmentrole?

We have ound that there is little point

expecting people to understand what

innovation is, or means, on its own

without some kind o context; so in our

area we approach it on the basis o theconcepts new, useul and used. Thats

what innovation means to me and many

other partners whom I work with.

Most people in rural areas do not usewords like innovation. Nonetheless, amarvellous innovative energy exists,

especially here in Thyborn. There

is a antastic urge to just get things

done. That is the positive side o it.

But strong plus sides can sometimes

have a downside too, in this particularcase I ind it can be diicult to reach

knowledge-intensive cooperation

Facilitation and dialogueleads to innovation

which or me means getting the most

out o an idea.

And thats where I have a role to play.

Take the example o the cluster group Iam working with at the moment. Oncein a while I make a point o stopping and

asking the people involved questions like:

are we making optimal use o it? Lets

explore the key elements in the clusterand take a close look at what the clusteractually looks like now? Exactly how does

it operate? These types o question tendto produce very ruitul results and can

generate new ideas or opportunitieslinked to cooperation with internationalpartners. Other outcomes rom this, new

thinking process has provided chances to

draw in more money that can be used to

perorm bigger tasks. I think innovationhas a antastic importance in acilitatingthis type o development and progress.

Bolette van Ingen Bro lives and works in Thyborn on the west

coast o Denmarks Jutland, where people possess impressive

innovative energies. She is eager to oster dialogue between

people because through dialogue, things start to happen.

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EU RuralReviewN2

What role should rural policyplay in encouraging creativityand innovation among ruralstakeholders?

I really would like to argue that rural policyshould ocus more on roles that acilitate

and promote dialogue, because then

people get much more value out o their

eorts. Innovation can be encouraged

most eectively when the conditions are

right and this oten involves someone

supporting the process. Facilitators anddialogue mechanisms, in their various

orms, are essential.

Rural development policy can contribute

to this process by providing undingand advocacy that acilitates actions

on the ground. Impartial mediators areinvaluable when trying to encourage

SMEs, associations and individuals to

think laterally about how to take more

coordinated and structured approachesto development planning or rural

projects. Public sector authorities can also

play a very useul role here by nancingindependent mediators to acilitate such

strategic cooperation processes. This is

important because rural communities

rarely have access to spare unds to payproessional mediators.

What is needed to increasecreativity and innovation in EUrural development?

I have been involved in using EU rural

policies as a practitioner or a while andmy experiences tell me that reedom

to generate ideas, and acilities that

support cooperation process, are very

valuable or generating innovation or

creative thinking. I have seen this whenI was involved with Rural DevelopmentProgrammes during 200006 and theiropenings or integrated rural support

policies and initiatives or coastal

development, as well as in Leader and

INTERREG.

Creating a new idea is normally the most

di cult part; gaining unding or it should

ideally be the easier part.

I generally think that rural developmentactors should be given a bit more latitude

to experiment, and I dont think ailure

should be considered negatively i it

contributes to a learning process that

can help take developments urther in

the uture. Sometimes I eel there are

too many rules attached to EU rural

development support and I think thesecan stife innovations potential. I realisewe have to take care o tax payers money

but we still need to nd a balance that lets

projects spread their wings properly.

Too many rules can stop innovative

projects rom even getting started andall you get is a range o projects that noone really cares about.

One rule that I think is important though

is that we need to assess the peopleinvolved in a project, just as much as

the project description. People make

projects work and we need to be able

to identiy people that truly believe in

the idea and who are able to go throughwith it. You must believe in the dedicated

souls who have the ideas close to their

hearts, rather than just a belie in project

descriptions.

What lessons have you learntfrom your involvement ininnovation and creativity?

I have learnt that the most important thing

when working with rural developmentand innovation is respect towards the

task you ace. Because when you work

with rural development, you work withvery valuable dedicated souls. You workwith peoples identity and with mattersthat are very close to their hearts. And

sometimes, you can turn up with all

your ne ideas but then you have maybe

arrived too early or too late or in the

wrong way.

I have learnt that whats importantisnt your proessional and educational

background. Its just as important to

possess tools or dialogue and confictsolving. I have also learnt that even

though one person with a small hammer

cannot knock a hole in a huge door,

together we can. I we keep on knocking

a little bit, then at some point we knocka hole. And all the people around the

table in the cluster project possess thatmentality. Lets take one step at a time

and keep on pushing! When considering

rural development, many little strokescan ell great oaks.

When considering rural development,many little strokes can ell great oaks.

Bolette van Ingen Bro

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Quotes about

innovation from EUrural developmentpractitioners

Human thought processes tend to the linear solution more readilythan to the lateral. Here I believe that networking between therural areas o Europe matching places and actors conrontedby common challenges can acilitate real break-throughs ininnovation. Communities on islands in Greece and Sweden or inthe mountains o Scotland or Slovenia will inevitably be aced bycore similar problems but will tend to approach those problemsin their own dierent linear ways. But i they are placed together,one locations linear solution can provide the lateral thinkinginspiration or a truly innovative solution in the other location tothe beneft o both.

Frank Gaskell:Senator o Euromontana and their nominated expert on

Thematic Working Group 2 o the European Network or Rural Development

Innovative ideas do not always emerge just romone person having a eureka moment but as a resulto very active (and sometimes challenging) debatebetween individuals who really know a subjectwell but who have very diferent experience andproessional perspectives.

Dr Michael Gregory,

EN RD Contact Point Thematic Working Group coordinator

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The birth o new ideas is a complicated process

requiring internal and external stimuli that apublic policy cannot always provide. What is moreimportant is to ensure that new ideas are nourishedand encouraged to the stage o ruition.

Antonis Constantinou,Director, European Commission DG Agriculture and Rural Development

The objective o rural development is to create positive changeor the uture o communities and enterprises; unless this changeis driven by innovation, we will simply go around in circles ratherthan breaking new ground and moving orward.

Rural dwellers and armers have always been among the most

creative innovators; this has been necessary in order to liveand prosper in adverse and oten isolated environments. Thepractical challenges aced by rural development now relate toenvironmental sustainability, technology adoption and livelihoodsecurity. Policy-makers must recognise that given the resourcesand the encouragement, innovation to create solutions to theseproblems can emerge rom rural areas to the beneft o all.

Paul Keating,Irish National Rural Network


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Public incentives are oten needed to catalyse privateinnovation and to share innovations with other

stakeholders.Petra van de Kop,

Netherlands Rural Network

Inormation and positive attitude to innovative ideasis needed to increase creativity and innovation in EUrural development.

Breda Kovai,

Slovenian Rural Development Programme

Innovation is a motor or development. Innovationis creativity. Innovation is knowledge. Innovationis courage.


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Partners inEU rural development

Rural Focus

T.HUDSON


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EU RuralReviewN2

The EUs Community StrategicGuidelines highlight the importanceo encouraging synergies betweendierent types o rural support activitythat are carried out by dierent EU andMember State institutions. The Common

Agricultural Policy (CAP) provides

essential rural development support tohelp support the competitiveness o arm

and orest industries, the improvemento environmental conditions, the

diversication o rural economies andquality o lie. These CAP mainstream

rural development objectives are

complemented by those o other EU

policy areas. Since rural development,

the second pillar o the CAP, is a sharedcompetence with Member States,

institutional partnerships are an important

mechanism or addressing issues related

to the multi-level governance which

characterises EU decisionmaking.

In addition to the Council, key policy-oriented bodies such as the European

Parliament, European Economic and

Social Committee and the Committee

o the Regions play an important role

in providing input and in drating

legislation aecting CAP priorities and

budgets, veterinary and plant-health

matters, orestry aairs, agricultural

product quality, and many other areas

o everyday rural lie.

Decision-making processes involved

in these policy developments include

consultations with the European

Economic and Social Committee,

which has a dedicated section or

agriculture, environment and sustainable

development. Similarly, the Committeeo the Regions remit incorporates manyrural policy issues including inrastructure

networks, vocational training, health,

culture and territorial cohesion.

Several Directorates-General (DGs) o

the European Commission also provide

support that benets Europes rural areas.

DG Regional Policy plays a particularly

important role in strengthening the

competitiveness and diversication o

rural economies, as well as improving

essential inrastructures or rural

communities and supporting innovation.

DG Employment, Social Aairs and Equal

Opportunities provides other benecialrural services through its work to createmore and better jobs, providing training

and building an inclusive society with

equal opportunities or all.

Sustainable development is a common

goal or all EU institutions and

Documents

Creativity and Innovation in EU Rural Development (Dec 2009)