Third Stakeholder Meeting in Neckar-Alb on 20th March!

Our regional partner, the Regionalverband Neckar-Alb (RVNA), hosted their third Down to Earth Stakeholder Meeting in Münsingen-Auingen on the 20th March 2024. This third Regional Stakeholder Meeting organised in the Neckar-Alb region aimed to report back on the Study Visit in Western Greece with local stakeholders. Moreover, the meeting was also the opportunity to prepare the upcoming Down to Earth Study Visit in the Neckar-Alb planned for June 2024. 

As an introduction, the participants were informed about the status of the project and were given an overview of the work carried out in semester 2.

The Regional Association Neckar-Alb then delivered a short presentation of Western Greece and described the overall characteristics of Western Greece in terms of geography, population and economy. It also pointed out the major challenges that the region faces. In addition, local approaches for regional development, the main policy instrument for strengthening the resilience of rural areas of Western Greece and selected examples for Good Practices were discussed. 

Stakeholders were then invited to give feedback on the presented projects and approaches: sustainability aspects of the good practices were discussed, and issues related to scope of the approaches were linked to each other. 

Finally the last section of the meeting was dedicated to planning the study visit in the Neckar-Alb region. In this context, the draft for the preliminary agenda was presented to the participants and was  discussed with them. As a result, new ideas were collected for activities that can enrich the study visit in Germany.

As Down to Earth continues its mission to foster sustainable rural development, these stakeholder meetings serve as crucial forums for collaboration and exchange of ideas and ensure actual impact on rural communities.