Welcome to the first in a series of articles entitled “News Bites” where we bringing you news items from National Rural Network members and the wider rural development community which we hope you find interesting.

Heritage & The Economy

According to Michael Starrett, CEO of The Heritage Council, “the world is changing more quickly than at any time in human history. Whether in the oceans, on land, or in the world’s climate, the impact of human actions on our earth is strikingly obvious. Heritage here in Ireland is not a luxury but essential to our quality of life and economy. Our ecosystems or nature’s services deliver vital goods and services that we take for granted as we place no price on their contribution and the goods they deliver are not traded on the stock exchange or market place. Yet, these goods underpin our agriculture, forestry and tourism industries and are crucial to human health and wellbeing today and in the future”. [read more ...]

Rural Enterprise in a Recession

The UK’s 7th Annual Rural Enterprise Conference took place at the end of May with the theme “Rural Enterprise in a Recession”. Proceeding are now available on the web. Following are a selection of presentations that I personally found interesting (I was not in attendance):

• Entrepreneurship and The New Rural Paradigm [pdf]
• Developing rural communities via community enterprise: the role of entrepreneurial leadership in arresting rural decline [pdf]
• An Evaluation of Web 2.0 as a Tool to Combat the Affects of Recession for Rural SMEs [pdf]
• Neo-Endogenous Development and the Rural Economy [pdf]
• Rural small businesses in turbulent times: impacts of the economic downturn [pdf]

The complete proceedings are available here

Mullingar Opportunity Day a Huge Success

Over 250 people visited the very successful Mullingar Opportunity Day in the Annebrook Hotel on June 25th throughout the day long event.  The event, initiated by the Economic Development Subcommittee of the County Development Board, was led by Westmeath Community Development Ltd. [read more ...]

Seminar informs Agri-Related Climate Change Policy

On the 24th of June the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food hosted a seminar in Backweston Co Kildare, focusing on agri-centered climate change research funded by the Department’s Research Stimulus Fund (RSF).  The seminar, which was attended by a mix of researchers and government officials from Ireland and Northern Ireland, was designed to address the following objectives:

• highlight the important role research can play in reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions
• inform the research community about the challenges facing policymakers in relation to climate change and greenhouse gas reduction targets
• provide a platform for RSF researchers to disseminate their preliminary findings and so contribute to evidence-based policy development
• explore opportunities for Irish researchers to become involved in international consortia working on the subject including those funded by the EU 7th Framework  Programme.

[read more ...]

Climate Change Review Report

The Heritage Council and Fáilte Ireland commissioned the “Climate Change Review Report” to inform  policy, research and grant support. The main findings of the review show that the heritage of the coast is at particular risk, which will impact  on related  tourism activities too.  Our inland waterways will also  be affected by changes in precipitation patterns,  flooding, increased water pollution, and extreme weather events. The report examines the potential impacts, as well as indirect impacts on heritage from adaptation responses such as flood relief schemes, and renewable energy generation.  Recommendations are made under the headings of policy development, research, adaptation, awareness raising, training, and resource management. [read more ...]

Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel on ” CAP post 2013: What future for direct payments?”

On the 2nd of June Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel spoke at an informal meeting in Brno, Czech Republic. In her speach the Commissioner said “it is clear that the debate on the future CAP and, in particular, on the future of direct payments has already “informally” started under the French and the Czech Presidencies. And this is rightly so, because we have a very tight time schedule ahead of us although the year 2014 seems to be far ahead of today.” [read more ...]

Teagasc launch new Technology Support Initiative for Food SMEs

At an Open Day for the food industry at Moorepark Food Research Centre in Fermoy on the 9 June, Teagasc announced their new Technology Support Initiative for Food SMEs. Speaking at the event Professor Liam Donnelly, Teagasc’s Director of Food Research and Head of Moorepark Food Research Centre said: “A new consensus is required for public food research to bridge the gap in expectations between public research institutions and food companies. Food companies are often critical of public research because it does not relate to their everyday needs, while public research institutions place the greatest emphasis on scientific novelty, and are often frustrated by the lack of interest by food companies in new research outputs. This difference in expectations is not confined to food research but spans the whole of the public research spectrum, nor is it confined to Ireland but is a perennial problem experienced in all countries.” [read more ...]

Minister of State Sargent Launches Good Practice Standard for Farmers’ Markets

On the 29th of May, Mr. Trevor Sargent T.D. Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with responsibility for Food and Horticulture today launched a Good Practice Standard and Flag for Farmers’ Markets.  The pilot Standard, which is voluntary, will be denoted by a Flag, which participating markets may display and which the Minister unveiled in the Food Market at BLOOM 2009. [read more ...]

Mind the Gap: Digital England – a rural perspective

On the 23rd of June, the Commission for Rural Communities in England launched a report entitled “Mind the Gap: Digital England – a rural perspective”. The report includes recommendations to Government to ensure an effective and sustainable communications future for rural England and identifies four key areas that must be tackled as a priority:

• education and lifelong learning
• business development
• social and community cohesion
• equitable access to services

[read more ...]

Launch of Memories Booklet

West Limerick Resources launched a booklet of short shorts written and compiled by senior citizens from Patrickswell [read more ...]

Wood Energy for the Future

Bioenergy’09, an event bringing together all the partners in the bioenergy chain, took place in Kilkenny on Wednesday 17 June. The event was jointly organised by Teagasc, COFORD and Sustainable Energy Ireland.

Speaking at the conference, Teagasc forestry researcher, Brian Clifford said that a cluster-based approach is the best way to identify private forest resources that are available in Ireland to supply the wood energy market. ”He said: ”Private forestry in Ireland is reaching a point where the possibility exists for it to make a significant contribution to the wood energy market.”[read more ...]

A Guide To Vegetable Growing

Teagasc recently published A Guide To Vegetable Growing which is available here.

Could do Better! Why EU Rural Development Policy is failing to reach its biodiversity potential

A new study launched by BirdLife International and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) reveals that poor implementation by Member States is often undermining the positive potential of the “green element” of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The main findings show that, although the EU Rural Development policy has the potential to tackle the decline of biodiversity, only a very small proportion of spending is benefiting Europe’s nature, while many potentially harmful investments are still funded without appropriate safeguards. [Download the report here ...]

If you have any news items that you would like included in the “Out and About” series then please contact rdsu@tippinst.ie