Workshop in Navarra and Madrid (Spain)

The common regional development problem addressed by the project is the so-called 'urbancentric'
legislation. Legislation is often drafted with urban centers in mind, and this legislation
sometimes discriminates and does not take into account the needs and resources and
capacities of rural areas. Improving governance processes that take into account the rights of
all citizens regardless of where they live, and implementing rural proofing mechanisms that
take into account the impact of legislation, projects and initiatives in these areas from
conception to implementation, can help ensure equal rights for citizens living in these areas
and redress economic, social and territorial disparities.

Coop4RURALGov, Cooperation for better governance, will enhance the capacities of 7 public
and private bodies from Spain, Bulgaria, Estonia and Ireland in their governance processes to
design and implement public policies, programs and initiatives on rural proofing that take into
account the particular circumstances and needs of rural areas. Through the exchange of
knowledge and experiences between the partner regions and the project partners, and the
collaborative work of different actors, experts and public and private organizations from the 4
participating regions, the project will improve their capacities of co-design and ex ante and ex
post evaluation of the rural impact of the policies proposed and/or approved by the legislative
bodies to avoid economic, social, environmental, security, etc. problems and contribute to
guarantee the rights of the citizens living in these areas, thus contributing to correct economic,
social and territorial disparities.

Taking into account the context and the definition of Rural Proofing as a tool to help policy
makers to think with a “rural approach” when designing policies, programs and interventions
to prevent negative outcomes and ensure that policies are in line with the objectives and
challenges of rural areas, the objective of the First thematic workshop of the Coop4RURALGov
project is What phases/stages, elements involved and stakeholders are necessary to carry out
an efficient Rural Proofing process? We take existing experiences as a starting point.

In detail:
1. Determine some common criteria in the definition of Rural Proofing and main
characteristics. E.g. mandatory or voluntary; timing (when to rural proof)…
2. What can be the phases of an efficient rural proofing mechanism? In what order?
3. What can be the elements involved in an efficient rural proofing mechanism? E.g. Open
data.
4. What can be the stakeholders involved in an efficient rural proofing mechanism, when
and how to involve them (in which stage) and their roles?

AGENDA
Day 0. Tuesday, September 24
Arrival of participants in Olite

Day 1. Wednesday, September 25

9.30. Reception of project patners and stakeholders at San Martín de Unx City Hall
9.30 - 10.00 Wellcome to participants
Presentation of VIVD project. VIVID (Wine, viticulture and depopulation) is a rural
innovation laboratory based on wine, viticulture and depopulation. It is promoted by
Fundación Emplea and the San Martín de Unx Town Council
Brief presentation of the project, contextualization of the session and introductionof the
facilitating team and objectives of the day

10.00 -11.20 Workshop
Problem statement and concept definition
Key elements of the approach

11.20 - 11.50 Coffee Break

11.50 - 13.30 Workshop
Case studies
Collective manifesto

13.30 – 15.00 Lunch Break.

15.00 -17.15 Workshop
Step by step process definition
Check out and closing

17.15 San Martín de Unx- Olite
4
18.15 Guided visit to the Royal Palace of Olite and joint dinner
End of the day

Day 2. Thursday, September 26
9.30 Reception of project partners and stakeholders in the Enozentrum space, Olite.
9.30 - 11.15 Workshop
Cross sectional view of the process
11.15- 11.45 Coffee break
11.45- 13.00 Synthesis and closing of the workshop
13.00 - 13.30 Project coordination meeting (only for project partners)
13.30 -14.45 Lunch Break

End of the day.

Day 3. Friday, September 27. Semminar at the Congress of Depputies, Madrid
9.30- 13.30 Seminar on Rural Proofing in the Spanish Congress of Depputies.
Adress: Cra de S. Jerónimo, s/n, Centro, 28071 Madrid
13.30 – 14-15 Guided tour of the Congress of Deputies to get to know the building and its
history.
14.15 End of the first interregional thematic workshop