The European Network of Rural Development, (ENRD) has produced A Framework of Rural Proofing Actions with the aim of supporting policy-makers and all stakeholders involved in designing or implementing rural proofing mechanisms.
The framework builds on the work of a Thematic Group which ran from October 2021 to June 2022. It consists of five actions all concerned with clarity of purpose and implementation.
At the heart is clarity of vision for rural areas accompanied by robust templates to implement rural proofing and clear roles and responsibilities. The Thematic Group finds that there must be a clear statement of strong and real political will and commitment for rural proofing to be effective plus robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
The final report emphasises that the engagement of local rural groups, networks, communities and citizens is essential for effective rural proofing and where Rural Parliaments, Village Movements or similar structures are not in place, new mechanisms for gathering grassroots views through consultation or deeper forms of engagement should be found.
A Framework of Rural Proofing Actions can be found here.
