(16 September 2013)- The first European Rural Parliament (ERP) will be organised in Brussels on 13 November 2013. It aims to provide a forum for exchange of ideas and experience between national rural movements and networks.
The European Rural Alliance (ERA), the European Rural Community Association (ERCA) and the Partnership for Rural Europe (PREPARE), who are the ERP’s main organisers, are inviting other organisations and networks to join them in Brussels.
Rural movements exist in most countries in Europe. They represent the many local communities that are working to develop their own areas. They help to strengthen their work and raise their voice at local, national and European levels.
The European Rural Parliament will present the rural movements as significant players at a European level, part of the civil society and the social economy, providing local development. The ERP aims to affect policy for rural and local development and to address the practical implementation of the European programs.
The decision to hold an ERP is the outcome of an international seminar held in Sweden in September 2012, in which many European organisations and networks participated. The ERP will become a tradition every second year, circulating between different countries.