Periodic Report Summary 3 - RURAGRI (Facing sustainability: new relationships between rural areas and agriculture in Europe)
Project Context and Objectives:
The ERA-NET RURAGRI aims to improve coordination between on-going and future European, national and regional research programmes concerned with the interrelated issues of agricultural development, rural development and sustainable development.
While the challenges and issues are mostly common, and despite the historical coordination at the EU level for agricultural and rural development policies, research on agriculture and rural development is mostly carried out at a national level and remains fragmented. Research funding bodies from 20 European member states and associated countries agreed to establish RURAGRI in order to enhance co-ordination and co-operation between national research programmes and thereby contribute to the development of a lasting focused network that will identify and support new research fields.
RURAGRI consists of 24 partners from 20 European member states and associated countries. RURAGRI started on the 1st October 2009, originally run until the 30th September 2013 and was extended until 31st March 2014.
In September 2012, 16 countries launched a joint transnational Call. As a result, five jointly funded projects started their work in August and September 2013.
Project Results:
A. The 1st concrete step was Mapping of existing research and information exchange oriented towards a future joint activity. The mapping exercise of RURAGRI was mainly performed to understand:
- the principle funding mechanisms in the partner countries;
- the core expertise and the strengths of the partners involved in RURAGRI; and
- the main interests in future joint activities and thematic topics of RURAGRI partners.
Reports from 20 countries (D2.1) were elaborated for internal purposes. They are available on the RURAGRI internal Website. In addition, a synthesis report of the WP2 mapping was published in 2011 and is available in the public area of the website.
B. The 2nd step was the development of a common Strategic Research Agenda (SRA, Deliverable D3.2). The development of a common, mutually agreed SRA was considered to be one of the major, crucial tasks of the ERA-Net. This Strategic Research Agenda had been developed by RURAGRI WP3 under the lead of FORMAS and FOAG in close interaction with the Management Committee of RURAGRI and in cooperation with the RURAGRI Expert Panel. The SRA was approved by the RURAGRI SC in April 2012. The SRA was considered to be the major basis for the development of the RURAGRI call.
C. The 3rd step was the work within WP4. It comprised the provision of relevant information on:
a) priority research topics of interest to the RURAGRI Partners.
It dealt with the Mapping of the research priorities against the background of the strategic framework developed in the SRA. A survey was undertaken among RURAGRI partners in order to assess the results of this exercise and identify key research topics associated with the priority research areas. D4.1 contains the methodology and main results of the above-mentioned survey.
b) currently uncovered transdisciplinary topics of research.
The objective was to identify, within the context of the RURAGRI strategic framework, critical knowledge gaps. An overview of previous and on-going research was undertaken through published materials with the use of a scientific database.
The focus of this work was on the identification of specific transdisciplinary research questions considering the “new relationships between rural areas and agriculture to face sustainability” (D4.2).
c) identification of a suitable typology of rural areas that would facilitate enhanced co-ordination and cooperation.
This objective was to address the importance of the spatial approach for the identification of relevant issues in the European framework bearing in mind territorial differences. The aim of D4.3 was to facilitate enhanced co-operation and co-ordination of research between RURAGRI Partners by identifying regions across the EU that are faced with similar challenges and opportunities.
D. The 4th step, the culmination of 35 months of work, was to launch joint transnational Call (D5.1) among 16 countries in September 2012.
On the basis of the SRA and the evaluation of the joint activities in WP4, RURAGRI developed a trans-national research programme. The RURAGRI SC identified three cross-cutting issues as core reference to any research in the field of RURAGRI: Diversity, Rural-urban relationships, Governance. In addition, it was agreed that all RURAGRI Research projects would integrate at least 2 of the following 3 research priorities: Ecosystem Services/Public Goods, Socio-Economic Development, Land Use and Land Management. The estimated total budget for the RURAGRI Call was approx. €8.5 million.
E. The 5th step was to manage the further call process, from the online submission of proposals to the international evaluation process, selection of projects and the finalisation of the individual grants by the respective national funding organisations. As a result of the RURAGRI Call 5, jointly funded collaborative research projects started their work in August or September 2013 (D5.2).
F. The 6th and final step was to develop a Follow-up strategy (D1.3) as a basis for future joint work.
Potential Impact:
Research funding bodies from 20 European member states and associated countries set up RURAGRI in order to develop a lasting focused network that would identify and open new research fields.
November the 30th, 2012, was the closing date for submitting proposals to the RURAGRI Call. Thereafter, International Peer Reviewers evaluated these proposals until February 2013. After 2 phases of project negotiations and national contracts, research funded projects started in August or September 2013. The projects will finalise in August 2016 at the latest. The kick-off meeting of the projects together with the RURAGRI closing conference on the 24th September 2013 raised positive response by the RURAGRI Consortium, the EU Commission and the wider audience. RURAGRI will continue to inform about the progress of the projects on its website.
List of Websites:
https://www.ruragri-era.net/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)
The ERA-NET RURAGRI aims to improve coordination between on-going and future European, national and regional research programmes concerned with the interrelated issues of agricultural development, rural development and sustainable development.
While the challenges and issues are mostly common, and despite the historical coordination at the EU level for agricultural and rural development policies, research on agriculture and rural development is mostly carried out at a national level and remains fragmented. Research funding bodies from 20 European member states and associated countries agreed to establish RURAGRI in order to enhance co-ordination and co-operation between national research programmes and thereby contribute to the development of a lasting focused network that will identify and support new research fields.
RURAGRI consists of 24 partners from 20 European member states and associated countries. RURAGRI started on the 1st October 2009, originally run until the 30th September 2013 and was extended until 31st March 2014.
In September 2012, 16 countries launched a joint transnational Call. As a result, five jointly funded projects started their work in August and September 2013.
Project Results:
A. The 1st concrete step was Mapping of existing research and information exchange oriented towards a future joint activity. The mapping exercise of RURAGRI was mainly performed to understand:
- the principle funding mechanisms in the partner countries;
- the core expertise and the strengths of the partners involved in RURAGRI; and
- the main interests in future joint activities and thematic topics of RURAGRI partners.
Reports from 20 countries (D2.1) were elaborated for internal purposes. They are available on the RURAGRI internal Website. In addition, a synthesis report of the WP2 mapping was published in 2011 and is available in the public area of the website.
B. The 2nd step was the development of a common Strategic Research Agenda (SRA, Deliverable D3.2). The development of a common, mutually agreed SRA was considered to be one of the major, crucial tasks of the ERA-Net. This Strategic Research Agenda had been developed by RURAGRI WP3 under the lead of FORMAS and FOAG in close interaction with the Management Committee of RURAGRI and in cooperation with the RURAGRI Expert Panel. The SRA was approved by the RURAGRI SC in April 2012. The SRA was considered to be the major basis for the development of the RURAGRI call.
C. The 3rd step was the work within WP4. It comprised the provision of relevant information on:
a) priority research topics of interest to the RURAGRI Partners.
It dealt with the Mapping of the research priorities against the background of the strategic framework developed in the SRA. A survey was undertaken among RURAGRI partners in order to assess the results of this exercise and identify key research topics associated with the priority research areas. D4.1 contains the methodology and main results of the above-mentioned survey.
b) currently uncovered transdisciplinary topics of research.
The objective was to identify, within the context of the RURAGRI strategic framework, critical knowledge gaps. An overview of previous and on-going research was undertaken through published materials with the use of a scientific database.
The focus of this work was on the identification of specific transdisciplinary research questions considering the “new relationships between rural areas and agriculture to face sustainability” (D4.2).
c) identification of a suitable typology of rural areas that would facilitate enhanced co-ordination and cooperation.
This objective was to address the importance of the spatial approach for the identification of relevant issues in the European framework bearing in mind territorial differences. The aim of D4.3 was to facilitate enhanced co-operation and co-ordination of research between RURAGRI Partners by identifying regions across the EU that are faced with similar challenges and opportunities.
D. The 4th step, the culmination of 35 months of work, was to launch joint transnational Call (D5.1) among 16 countries in September 2012.
On the basis of the SRA and the evaluation of the joint activities in WP4, RURAGRI developed a trans-national research programme. The RURAGRI SC identified three cross-cutting issues as core reference to any research in the field of RURAGRI: Diversity, Rural-urban relationships, Governance. In addition, it was agreed that all RURAGRI Research projects would integrate at least 2 of the following 3 research priorities: Ecosystem Services/Public Goods, Socio-Economic Development, Land Use and Land Management. The estimated total budget for the RURAGRI Call was approx. €8.5 million.
E. The 5th step was to manage the further call process, from the online submission of proposals to the international evaluation process, selection of projects and the finalisation of the individual grants by the respective national funding organisations. As a result of the RURAGRI Call 5, jointly funded collaborative research projects started their work in August or September 2013 (D5.2).
F. The 6th and final step was to develop a Follow-up strategy (D1.3) as a basis for future joint work.
Potential Impact:
Research funding bodies from 20 European member states and associated countries set up RURAGRI in order to develop a lasting focused network that would identify and open new research fields.
November the 30th, 2012, was the closing date for submitting proposals to the RURAGRI Call. Thereafter, International Peer Reviewers evaluated these proposals until February 2013. After 2 phases of project negotiations and national contracts, research funded projects started in August or September 2013. The projects will finalise in August 2016 at the latest. The kick-off meeting of the projects together with the RURAGRI closing conference on the 24th September 2013 raised positive response by the RURAGRI Consortium, the EU Commission and the wider audience. RURAGRI will continue to inform about the progress of the projects on its website.
List of Websites:
https://www.ruragri-era.net/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)