93% of Europeans consider climate change to be a serious problem and say they have already taken at least one measure to combat it. The Green deal is the European Union's new growth strategy aimed at improving citizens' well-being. For us, civil society structures, it is crucial to implement, at local level, concrete actions to ensure a fair and inclusive energy transition. It is not necessary to carry out large-scale actions, but to foster a dynamic leading to innovation and to give rural citizens both cognitive and practical tools. The final objective is twofold: to unite the citizens in rural areas around this Green deal and to encourage them to stay in the countryside where they come from in order to be full-fledged actors of change. It’s one of the hot topics for the coming decades and the rural areas are directly affected. So what to do, what do others do, what approaches do we have, what way can we get, what is possible even with a small budget, how can citizens be involved, what is specific for rural areas in comparison to urban places? Many questions that need answers. Climate change is one of the policy areas that needs international / European cooperation. Climate change does not stop at the borders. It one of the best examples where European cooperation is necessary. This way we would like to go. Learning about “Green Initiatives in Rural Areas” (GIRA), that’s the driving motor for our SP, we put it in our project title. We have identified already in all our six partner countries what is happening around climate change and a new green policy. We come from all the different parts of the European Union North (Sweden), West (Netherlands, France), Center (Germany), South (Greece) and East (Poland) representing member states with various backgrounds. The results expected during the project is in one hand that good ideas from very different contexts in six countries will be possible to be used in all countries. When learning from others all participants will be able to create new way of working with Green Deal issues in practice and also to work with broad dissemination of this ideas to people working with rural development and climate change. The aim is that in every participating country we start small projects and activities with results that can be visible for the society in all. We will not simply compile ideas and different approaches, which of course needs to be done in the first place but we will create a real European "toolbox" (“Green manual”) to inspire, impulse and implement new actions in rural areas on green initiatives. This new project will allow our structure, as a local reference on rural issues at the European level, to target a new topic and a broader audience. We will also have to set up actions in an eco-neighbourhood in our regions jointly with populations from different cultures and nationalities. The topic of the Green Deal is so high on the agenda and the need in rural areas is corresponding to that. We need answers and we need support and advise how to tackle climate change on the big and on the small scale. The SP opens this box and goes into a topic that is expanding almost every day. The SP will set up one local development group in each country that will be involved in European learning and innovation activities in rural development on climate change issues constantly. These groups are the motor of the SP and they will drive the SP forward and will be the link to the European dimension and the European sharing in the international context of transnational meetings. They will have much interest and involvement in gathering knowledge and specific national examples and approaches on the content, learning new activities, kicking-off new initiatives and learning from other contexts in Europe. During the transnational meetings they give each other ideas, input and new knowledge about how to work with green policy approaches and new initiatives in rural development and they will also be educated in how to implement new activities and initiatives connected to the content. The idea is a combination of “meeting, exchanging, thinking, developing and implementing” - bringing together existing approaches and experiences and on top of this develop try new ideas and innovative strategies for future implementation. Our dissemination activities will be addressed to various groups of people in all participating countries. The most important target group of dissemination activities on local and regional level are citizens of rural and small towns local communities. The local actions aim to disseminate the project results (via the “Green Manual”) all participating organizations and the project participants will reach out to different circles of the rural local communities to rural citizens, associations, local authorities, NGOs, local stakeholders etc. Dealing with climate change and green policy on such a bright level will have tremendous impact on all people, groups and organizations invo
With the implementation of this project, it was hoped to sensitize rural agents for the Green Deal, while at the same time highlighting their role in this challenge. While more urbanized centres often provide venues for exchange with experts or international stakeholder, rural areas often don't have that privilege. Via implementing this project the partner organizations meant to both make rural areas more seen on an international scale, raising their reviewed potential and prestige, whilst bringing the international dimension on the rural level as well, showing that on an international level there is systemic support and interest for ecological and social sustainability movements. Best practice examples were exchanged in order to further learning, reflections and insights to all delegations and local stakeholders. Furthermore, a 'green manual' was planned providing the tools for the getting active and therefore empowering rural population to start their own initiatives. At the same time, it was aimed to achieve a deepening of inter-European cooperation, assuring a partner- and friendship that has become a drive for all of the involved partner organizations.
The need for a collective response to a phenomena that doesn’t stop at borders is pressing. All of the participating organizations have their share of experiences of affectedness and most of them have already integrated climate awareness into their educational mandate as pedagogical institutions. Even though all face different climate circumstances, it is again the main factor of rural areas that provides an overall connectedness where the sharing of knowledge, ideas and best practices are benefitial for all agents. For rural areas, it is immensely important to gain insight into how citizens can be activated and involved not only in decision making processes but also in building initiatives up from the start, into how the resources (once) available can be both maintained or restored and into which parameters lead to a successful movement. The need is to empower rural areas and its population, as important stakeholders in this joint challenge. With the currently often lack of infrastructure and resulting social and economical insecurity, a vacuum is created that gives way to skepticism towards Europe and European measurements as the Green Deal. At the same time it bears the feeling of isolation and being left behind.