Rural development

FARNET Support Unit

(May 2009)  AEIDL and Grupo Alba (associated as the "DevNet" EEIG) have been assigned by the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission to be the "Support Unit" of the Fisheries Areas Network ("FARNET") from 2009 to 2014.

This FARNET Support Unit will bring animation, thematic and technical expertise as well as administrative support to the Commission, groups and other relevant actors / bodies concerned by the implementation of the fisheries operational programmes and in particular of their priority axis 4.

 

Client: European Commission, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Partner: Grupo Alba

Expected termination: 2014/12

Contact: Serge Gomes da Silva

European Evaluation Network for Rural Development

(January 2008) The European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture has chosen the EEIG "RUR-Eval", established by AEIDL and ÖIR-Managementdienste GmbH (Austria), to assist in the setting-up and management of a European evaluation expert network and to be responsible for the operation of an associated contact point. The overall aim of the European evaluation expert network is to help establish good practice and build capacity in the evaluation of rural development programmes, thereby increasing the utility of monitoring and evaluation as tools for improving the formulation and implementation of rural development policies. The evaluation expert network will rely on a "contact point", which will serve as a central information point concerning the evaluation of rural development programmes.

Client: European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture
Partners: AEIDL and ÖIR-Managementdienste GmbH
Expected termination: 2013/12
Contact: Maylis Campbell

RUR@CT

(April 2008) The Limousin region (France) has launched a European network (RUR@CT) to promote the sharing of knowledge in rural development between regions. In the context of the EU budget reform, and particularly in relation to its impact on cohesion policy after 2013, RUR@CT aims to give European regions access to the experiences and lessons of an innovative rural development model. Within this network, AEIDL is responsible for identifying and promoting examples of good practice in four key issues: development and competitiveness; social cohesion and human capital; environment management; and territorial governance.

Client: Conseil Régional du Limousin
Partners: AEIDL, Conseil Régional du Limousin and RCT (Réseau Conseil en développement Territorial)
Expected termination: December 2010
Contact: Jean-Luc Janot

Synthesis of ex-ante evaluations of Rural Development Programmes 2007-2013

(January 2008) The European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture has chosen the partnership made up of AEIDL and ÖIR-Managementdienste GmbH (Austria) to summarise and analyse the ex-ante evaluations of the 94 national or regional Rural Development Programmes which will be implemented between 2007 and 2013. The synthesis will investigate to what extent rural development strategies and measures established by Member States correspond to the needs of European rural areas. It is expected to provide elements for improving the monitoring and evaluation of the programmes at EU level.

Client: European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture
Partners: AEIDL and ÖIR-Managementdienste GmbH
Expected termination: 2008/12
Contact: Jean-Luc Janot

Prefiguration study of the rural development network in France

As of 2007, each Member State must set up a national rural network which “gathers the organisations and administrations working in the field of rural development ". AEIDL is taking part in the prefiguration of this network with the consultancy, Res Publica. This activity will run from June to November 2006. The main tasks will be to conduct surveys of around forty participating organisations, the organisation of two working seminars, and the analysis of the situation with a view to drawing up recommendations for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing and the Interministerial Delegation of Land-Planning and Competitiveness of the Territories (DIACT). This project is financed by the European Union within the framework of the Community Initiative LEADER+ and by DIACT (FNADT), in collaboration with the CNASEA. A discussion forum is accessible at Respublica Conseil

Etude “Promouvoir la qualité de la vie en Europe rurale ”

AEIDL, in partnership with a network of researchers piloted by the Austrian Institute for SME research, has won a contract for the realisation of a study which will aim to clarify the part played by social capital in the improvement of the quality of the life in rural areas.  This study should influence the definition of rural policies intended to promote the creation of employment in these types of areas.  The study will cover the 25 Member States and the two acceding countries. This study is financed by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

 

European synthesis of LEADER+ mid-term evaluations

In November 2005, AEIDL won a contract in partnership with the Österreichisches Institut für Raumplanung (OÏR), in relation to the midterm evaluations of the LEADER+ Initiative. This synthesis, which is produced at the request of the Directorate General for Agriculture of the European Commission, aims to draw out the main lessons from the 73 midterm evaluations of the LEADER+ programme at the regional and national level, in order to prepare for the next programming phase of interventions in support of rural development (2007-2013). AEIDL is a member of the “Core group” which develops the methodology and is responsible for drafting the reports and will also draw up the synthesis of the evaluations for Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg and Wallonia (B).

European synthesis of the mid-term evaluations of Rural Development Programmes

The European Commission’s Agriculture and Rural Development Directorate General assigned a consortium led by Agra Ceasc to draw up the European synthesis of the mid-term evaluations of Rural Development Programmes for the 2000-2006 period. AEIDL is responsible for Belgium.

Updating the mid-term evaluation of the LEADER+ programme in France

In partnership with the French consultancy firm Chôra Conseil, AEIDL won a contract to update the mid-term evaluation of the LEADER+ programme in France. This evaluation, which has to be completed by the end of 2005, will be achieved through desk research, interviews with the programme’s main stakeholders and carrying out case studies at the grass roots level. The management authority is CNASEA, the French administration body which  manages the LEADER+ programme.

Mid-term evaluation of the LEADER+ programme in Wallonia

Mid-term and final evaluation of the LEADER+ programme in Wallonia. This evaluation covers both the intermediate evaluation in 2003 and the final evaluation to be completed in 2005. It iwill be achieved by means of desk research, interviews with the programme’s main stakeholders, carrying out case studies at the grass roots level and through "evaluation seminars". The management authority is the Ministry of the Walloon Region, the administration managing the LEADER+ programme in Wallonia.

Evaluation à mi-parcours du programme LEADER+ en Wallonie pour la période 2001-2003

Mise à jour 2005 de l’évaluation à mi-parcours du programme LEADER+ en Wallonie 

Mid-term evaluation of the LEADER+ programme in Austria

In partnership with the Austrian consultancy firms Regional Consulting and Rosinak und Partners, AEIDL won a contract for the mid-term and final evaluation of the LEADER+ programme in Austria. This evaluation covers both the intermediate evaluation in 2003 and the final evaluation to be completed in 2005. It will be achieved by means of desk research, interviews with the programme’s main stakeholders, carrying out case studies at the grass roots level and through "evaluation seminars". The management authority is the Ministry of Agriculture, the administration managing the LEADER+ programme in Austria.

Mid-term evaluation of the LEADER+ programme in France

In partnership with the French consultancy firm Chôra Conseil, AEIDL undertook the mid-term evaluation of the LEADER+ programme in France. This evaluation, conducted in 2003, was achieved through desk research, interviews with the programme’s main stakeholders and reporting on around twenty case studies at the grass roots level. The management authority was CNASEA, the French administration body managing the LEADER+ programme.

LEADER I Coordination Unit and LEADER II European Observatory

After organising the LEADER I Coordination Unit between 1992 and 1995, AEIDL operated as European Observatory for Rural Development under the LEADER II Community Initiative (Links between Actions for the Development of the Rural Economy) from 1995 until 2000.

The main task of the Observatory was to facilitate innovation transfer and exchanges of experiences and knowledge between rural actors and territories in the European Union, notably by creating and diffusing methodological tools. In this context, European wide studies have been completed, a large number of seminars and conferences have been organised in rural areas throughout Europe and some thirty multilingual publications provide updates on various methodological aspects of interest to Local Action Groups and administrations, along with a monthly newsletter and a quarterly magazine.