EU supports rural development workshops in Georgia

The FINANCIAL — Around 200 representatives of regional and local authorities from 10 regions of Georgia have attended interactive workshops on rural development.

The workshops were part of an awareness raising campaign supported by the EU and initiated by the country’s Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture and the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.

One of the final events of this awareness raising campaign took place in the Georgian town of Mtskheta on 3 April, according to the EU Neighbours portal.

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The workshops aimed to promote Georgia’s rural development policy and build capacity of local officials for its implementation. The workshop participants represented 64 municipalities from different regions across the country.

They discussed strategic approaches to sustainable rural development as an effective instrument to promote growth and diversification of local economies. Among other issues on the agenda were improvement of social and public services, sustainable management of natural resources, climate action and citizen engagement.

The workshops also focused on Georgia’s progress in introducing and implementing the national rural development concept, practical experiences of European countries in this field, and the ways to adapt it to local realities.

The EU, in partnership with United Nations Development Programme, assists regional and local authorities of Georgia in their efforts to take part in shaping rural development policies at a local level and promote underlying mechanisms of citizen engagement.

The EU-funded European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) aims to reduce rural poverty in Georgia and implement its Rural Development Strategy and Action Plan. ENPARD has been implemented since 2013, with a total budget of €179.5 million. Its first phase focused on developing the national agriculture potential, while the second and third phase focus on creating economic opportunities for rural population that go beyond agricultural activities.