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European Rural Parliament, Kielce 2022
Hear the voice of the village
What good comes from an awareness of the problems around us if we feel that no one is listening when we call for action and change? What if we are able to take on the challenges of our local community, but we do not have enough strength to escalate them to a ‘higher’ level? Where and to whom should we communicate our needs so that we, as rural people, feel that our voice matters, has power and carries equal weight as the voice of other social and professional groups and the voice of other nations?
One of the responses to these needs could be the 5th Gathering of the European Rural Parliament (ERP), taking place from 12-15 September 2022 in the Kielce Trade Fair halls. The event was held under the premise of countering the taking of decisions about rural areas from the perspective of a high tower, often without the participation of those most concerned.
The idea for which the historical foundation was the creation a space primarily for rural practitioners, i.e. rural inhabitants, who are often best placed to point out to the problems affecting their local backyards, yet just as often convinced that their voices are of marginal importance while deciding on the future.
Events such as the Rural Parliament are extremely important for rural people to work out the common position and try to get it through to decision-makers, to the decision-making centre, to the world of politicians. They need to understand that it is impossible to modernise villages and solve the increasing number of problems without the participation and voice of the rural people themselves. One must be closely linked to the other, Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, Chairman of the Council for Agriculture and Rural Areas under the President of the Republic of Poland, emphasised on the first day.
With the need to change this mechanism, the 5th gathering of the Parliament was held under the slogan ‘Hear the voice of rural areas’, bringing together in one place inhabitants, representatives of civil society organisations, scientists, entrepreneurs, farmers, representatives of national and EU authorities from all over Europe. One of these persons was Karen Keaveney from Ireland, who summed up the thought of the introduction: - Rural citizens can make their voice heard by engaging. Now, that’s not easy, but what they have to realize is that their voice matters. So it has to come from the bottom up(…) It’s also really important to communicate what we do, and also for the leaders on a regional or national level to really recognize that rural people of all ages have something to contribute. - It is worthwhile to add that this year’s gathering definitely stands out from previous editions by the number of young participants, for the first time making up one of the largest representations.
Before we provide you with a brief description of each day of the Parliament, we recommend a short report on the entire gathering.
ARRIVAL DAY
Besides organisational matters (registration etc.) and a short welcome, the first day was mainly devoted to speeches by the representatives of state administration. Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Anna Gembicka, Chairman of the Council for Agriculture and Rural Areas at the President of the Republic of Poland Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, and member of the Board of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship [region] Marek Jońca delivered their opening addresses. Each of them emphasised in unison that the voice of rural people should be heard both nationally and internationally, if only due to the significant fact that in Poland alone, they make up 40% of society. Their opinions and experiences must make a significant contribution to the development of the European Union, the country but also the region and the local communities. Particularly in such dynamic times, both geopolitically and economically. Noteworthy at this point are the statements made by EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, outlining the EU context, in which he touched on the current and future EU actions for rural areas:
- This congress is an important element of the rural development strategy adopted by the European Commission and designed by me, a long-term vision of rural development until 2040. Such discussion, held within these rural parliaments, is important to formulate the right policy also at national levels, to develop rural areas and to reduce the disparities between urban and rural growth – which is unfortunately uneven, he said in an interview.
- When we published the long-term vision for rural areas in June 2021, we identified the European Rural Parliament as a partner for making the Rural Pact. Since January, ELARD, ERCA, and PREPARE and other organisations have engaged and contributed to the Rural Pact. This Pact aims to bring together, for the first time, all representatives of governments and entrepreneurs to work together to achieve the intended goals for a long-term vision for rural areas up to 2040. This is challenging, but also promising, the Commissioner added from the stage.
A full account of the first day of the ERP can be found in the report below:
STUDY VISIT DAY
The second day was filled with study visits to inspiring and interesting places in the Świętokrzyskie voivodship. The objective of these 10 field trips was to familiarise the participants with Polish experiences in such areas as job creation in rural areas, entrepreneurship development, production and distribution of local products, rural tourism, care for seniors, the creation of smart villages and climate protection. The participants stressed that these multidirectional forms of development in Polish rural areas could serve as examples that should be followed in other regions of Europe.
As one of the young participants in one of the study tours, Jakub Wejman from the Łódzkie voivodship, told us: Thanks to the study visits organised by the European Rural Parliament, I have learnt a lot about innovative techniques of producing juices and cured meats. As I am a student of an agricultural school, namely the Complex of Schools of the Agricultural Training Centre in Dobryszyce, I will try to pass on the knowledge I have acquired to other students who are interested in the fruit-growing and cured meat industry.
For a description of each visit can, see here
Another item on the agenda was the future of Europe’s rural areas. These issues were addressed during the networking meetings, which were arranged primarily for the young participants in the ERP, as young people would be the future of Europe and their views must be taken into account when developing policies, legislation and other documents of legislative and strategic importance. The networking meetings were organised in the form of a rural ‘World Café’, which involved the exchange of perspective-enhancing experiences among young people from all over Europe.
We talked about different problems here and in Sweden and in the whole Europe. Every country had different problems but there was like one common thing in every country we’ve talked with, and it is about how expensive housing is and how hard it is for youth to move back to rural areas or to choose to just stay there if you even grow up in rural areas. So the biggest problem is to keep youth in rural areas and make it more attractive for them. If we want to make it more inclusive, we need to have a different perspective in the process. So we can build a community that is for everyone: youth, elderly, all types of people. — Sima Benni, Sweden
In addition, this part of the event also included exhibitions of local and traditional products from across Europe, presented by representatives of particular countries. Visiting them allowed the guests to get to know national and local initiatives in Europe, which can be a source of inspiration for future twinning actions in our local communities. This was completed with the ‘Message Wall’ zone, where the participants could express their opinions, propose ideas or pass on the messages they convey to inhabitants of rural areas, national governments and the European Union.
WORKSHOPS DAY
The main point of the third day were workshops for small groups on a range of topics significant for the future of Europe’s rural areas. Each participant in the Parliament was able to attend two workshops selected from the thematic pools:
- rural areas and NGOs,
- the future of rural Europe
- social action,
- climate action,
- LEADER in action,
- review of research on rural welfare,
- rural economy,
- youth employment.
For a full list of the workshops held, see here.
The day culminated with networking activities, which, once again, resulted in collecting the voices of the participants in the meetings. Among these, particularly noteworthy was the ‘Conversation Café’, an activity based on the exchange of ideas and experiences on what we can do to address the threats posed by climate change.
CONCLUDING DAY
The first item on the final day was a debate on the Rural Pact, a document that can serve as a bridge between grassroots organisations and the European Commission; to jointly establish and undertake the implementation of measures that take into account the needs, expectations and ideas of rural people. The finale and culmination of the day, and of the ERP, was the signing of the document Rural People's Declaration of Kielce.
In the next stage, the document will be presented to the development policy makers of the EU and the countries whose representatives attend the Parliament.
Below is a report on the day.
The deliberations of the European Rural Parliament took four days. As evidenced by the voice of one of the participants above, they were was an excellent opportunity for the exchange of experience and knowledge between rural communities from across Europe, who agree that the work is just beginning.