Final Report Summary - CAP-ACC (CAP reform and building a knowledge-based agriculture in rural areas of the Associated candidate countries) The CAP-ACC project was related to the adaptation of the European common agricultural policy (CAP) to both the Member States (MS) and the Associated Candidate Countries (ACC) and focused on the necessary actions for policy implementation and knowledge dissemination so as to facilitate the sustainable development of rural economics and the smooth adaptation of ACC to CAP. The overall objectives of CAP-ACC were the following: 1. to achieve capacity on the concept, structure, budget, development and impact of the CAP reform; 2. to identify the common objectives of the stakeholders of the three involved ACC regarding the CAP adaptation; 3. to achieve involvement and commitment of the adequate stakeholders and beneficiaries; 4. to successfully map out a strategic document of the current state of the ACC and of the relevant actions to be taken in consideration by the policy makers for their smooth adaptation to the CAP; 5. to achieve engagement of the stakeholders by providing a platform for discussions, knowledge and experience sharing; 6. to facilitate stakeholders' communication for future collaborations. Appropriately organised dissemination activities were the key parameter for the project success. Various approaches were utilised, such as a specialised website, material publication, target visits, participation in seminars and relevant events, press-kits and other promotion activities. The diversity of the involved parties, which included ministries, academic institutions and non-governmental organisations, contributed to the high quality of CAP-ACC outcomes and to the broad dissemination of knowledge to various end users, including decision makers, scientists, producers, entrepreneurs, journalists and consumers. The produced strategic document and selected reference material was distributed both in hard-copy and electronic format. It was selected for the project website to remain active after the project completion, in order to provide a dissemination rostrum beyond the project timeframe. Press releases allowed for information on CAP-ACC activities to spread among a wide audience. In addition, a conference was organised and adequately prepared material was distributed to all participants. The membership of the project partners in scientific networks was helpful for further dissemination and development of follow-up initiatives. Finally, participation in relevant events served both as a platform for announcing CAP-ACC findings and as a means of sharing experience and adding value to the project achievements. The developed dissemination plan, which included all the above components, considered three different target audiences: 1. local stakeholders and participants in the project consortium within the CAP-ACC involved countries; 2. stakeholders within the European Union countries, Turkey and the western Balkans; 3. participants to other relevant projects. Because of the short term of the CAP-ACC project implementation, most of the dissemination and awareness raising activities took place after its completion, since they were dependent on the specific schedules of local, national and international events, on the stakeholders' availability and on other arising opportunities. Related documents Final Report - CAP-ACC (CAP reform and building a knowledge-based agriculture in rural areas of the Associated candidate countries)
