PREPARE Partners
The PREPARE partnership is a group of European and national non-government organizations. The partnership was created in 1999, and has expanded as new national rural movements have joined. The current partners are:
- Forum Synergies, transnational network for sustainable development
- ECOVAST, the European Council for the Village and Small Town
- Croatian Rural Development Network
- Czech National Rural Observatory
- Kodukant, the Estonian Movement of Villages
- Finnish Village Action Association
- Hungarian Rural Parliament
- Latvian Rural Forum
- Lithuanian Rural Communities Union
- Polish Rural Forum
- Slovakian Rural Parliament
- Slovenian Rural Development Network
- Swedish Popular Movements Council
Forum Synergies, transnational network for sustainable development Forum Synergies is a pan-european non-profit-making organisation based on the skills and achievements of the European Network of Experiences in Sustainable Development (ENESD). It builds its activities on the concrete experience of communities and projects which promote more democratic and environmentally sensitive development in their own regions and countries. Forum Synergies offers support for partnership through dialogue and cooperation between local actors, public services, political decision-makers and private enterprise. Our concept of sustainable development is based on the four pillars of sustainable development: the land, the local economy, social cohesion and the process of communication and decision-making. The land includes attachment to local culture and protection of nature; the local economy includes priority to local resources and high local added value; social cohesion integration of excluded people and minorities and sharing knowledge with partners; the process means developing methods which enable people to participate in sustainable development and decision-making. Forum Synergies is an organisation of individual and organisational members.
www.forum-synergies.eu
ECOVAST, the European Council for the Village and Small Town
ECOVAST was set up in 1984 to further the well-being of rural communities, and the safeguarding of the rural heritage, throughout Europe. Its membership includes over 500 organisations or individuals in 20 European countries. It has national sections in Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia (FYROM), Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and planned in other countries. These provide a focus for exchange and activity in each country, to benefit its rural communities and rural heritage. ECOVAST's policy approach for rural Europe was set out in its "Strategy for Rural Europe", published in 1994 : this has been translated into many European languages, and widely distributed. The text of this, and of other policy documents, can be found on the Website www.ecovast.org. ECOVAST has consultative status with the Council of Europe; and also with the European Commission, including a seat on the EC Advisory Committee on Rural Development. It organises conferences, seminars and other events; and has taken part in major practical projects, such as the Heritage Trails projects in Slovenia and Croatia, the Wine Traditions Network (WITRANET) project, and the Transnational Woodland Industries Group (TWIG) project, all part-funded by the European Commission. Its current major focus is on the future of small town in Europe, through the project ASSET - Action to Strengthen Small European Towns.
www.leaderplus.cz
Kodukant, the Estonian Movement of Villages. Kodukant, the Estonian Movement of Villages, founded in 1997 as the focal point of the village movement in Estonia.
www.kodukant.ee
Kodukant, the Estonian Movement of Villages. Kodukant, the Estonian Movement of Villages, founded in 1997 as the focal point of the village movement in Estonia.
www.kodukant.ee
Finnish Village Action Association. The Finnish Village Action Association is the focal point of the village action movement in Finland.
www.kylatoiminta.fi
www.kylatoiminta.fi
Hungarian Rural Parliament. The Hungarian Rural Parliament was established in 1998, with the aim to promote dialogue and co-operation in rural Hungary, and to give voice to the ignored rural world.
www.ruralnet.hu
www.ruralnet.hu
Latvian Rural Forum. The Latvian Rural Forum was set up in early 2005, following a process of discussion which had been initiated the year before jointly by PREPARE and the Latvian Ministry of Agriculture. This process culminated in October 2004 with a national Conference, attendee by about 100 representatives of NGOs and other organizations. The Forum’s membership includes 14 registered NGOs, and it is process of becoming a national rural platform involving other organisations such as small village schools. The Forum organised very effective Travelling Workshops in the Daugavpils and Bauska regions of Latvia as part of the PREPARE Gathering 2005.
Lithuanian Rural Communities Union. The Lithuanian Rural Communities Union was founded in 2001 aiming to unite the communities of all regions of Lithuania and represent their interests. There are about 1500 rural communities in Lithuania and more than 880 of them are now members of LRCU . The mission of LRCU is to ensure Lithuanian rural areas are attractive and safe, having good infrastructure, viable agricultural, forestry, fishery and other sectors, healthy environment, preserved and nursed landscape.
www.lkbs.lt
www.lkbs.lt
Polish Rural Forum (Polish Forum on the Animation of Rural Areas). In 2002, PREPARE offered support to an initiative in Poland, where many Polish rural and environmental NGOs, assisted by the Cooperation Fund, decided to work together. After three preparatory meetings in late 2002, a national meeting was held in February 2003, attended by many representatives of Polish NGOs, of government and of PREPARE. The outcome was that 42 Polish rural development organizations (including all the major ones at national level) signed an agreement to cooperate within a Polish Forum on the Animation of Rural Areas. Since November 2005, the Polish Rural Forum has been officially registered as a "union of associations". The Forum’s objectives are support and promote sustainable development of rural areas and to build partnerships between NGOs, businesses and public institutions in order to improve the quality of life in rural areas. PREPARE has part-funded a programme organised by the Forum in Poland for training for trainers, who will themselves animate the creation and work of local action groups.
www.faow.org.pl
www.faow.org.pl
Slovakian Rural Parliament. The Rural Parliament in Slovakia was established in October 2000, after a preparatory phase during which the initiating group had much contact with the other organisations in the PREPARE Group, and drew inspiration from the Swedish Popular Movements Council and the Hungarian Rural Parliament. The initiative was taken by a group of national and regional bodies, including government agencies and NGOs. The Rural Parliament’s main objective is to improve the quality of life in rural areas in a sustainable way. It has about 600 individual members, and about 80 institutional members. European Union funding from the Special Preparatory Programme enabled it to create a network of focal points in different parts of Slovakia, each with a trained facilitator: there are now 44 of these focal points.
Slovenian Rural Development Network
The Slovenian Rural Development Network was established in early 2003 to inform and educate its members and the interested public, and to promote the well-being of rural people in Slovenia. This followed a joint initiative by the Slovenian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and PREPARE, with the aim of strengthening the village movement in Slovenia as a partner of government in rural development. The first step in this initiative was a national workshop, held at Kranjska Gora in October 2001, bringing together representatives of local action groups, national NGOs and the government. The participants agreed that a series of regional workshops should be held to discuss the proposal to strengthen the village movement. Twelve regional workshops were held in early 2002, funded by the British Embassy in Slovenia. The participants agreed that a new national framework was needed in order to stimulate active involvement of local people in their own rural development. After further discussions, the Slovenian Rural Development Network, was established in early 2003 as a civil association. It launched an 18-month programme of work, focused on providing its members with information, training and opportunities for networking. This programme was funded partly by the Ministry of Agriculture, partly by PREPARE, and partly by contributions in cash or in kind from the members of the Network. ;
www.drustvo-podezelje.si
www.drustvo-podezelje.si
Swedish Popular Movements Council. The Swedish Popular Movements Council acts as a national network for the 4,000 local action groups which now exist all over Sweden.
www.bygde.net