Workshops

Abstract

This Workshop intends to be a place of discussion aiming in how agriculture and rural development policies constrain farming systems, in a multiple perspective of view, to enable sustainability of rural areas, identifying and proposing solutions for solving their problems, regarding the structural challenges and other efforts inherent to the productive process.

Description

The agricultural and rural development European policies are changing. Nowadays, the CAP primary principles and objectives are adjusted to a new reality according to the globalization, climate changes, employment and growth, environmental protection, food security and avoiding global hunger.

The new PAC is much more environmentalist but conflictive with the economic and social issues and the outcomes of rural development should be different of the last years. The world citizens, including farmers, are increasingly more concerned in production respecting the environment and are changing some of their ways. A friendly agricultural production system seems to be accomplished by some European farmers. However, the geographic and economic resources particularities of many peripheral regions enforce the adjustment of European rural policies to their realities. Understand how to provide better outcomes could be an example to other regions and plans, regarding agricultural and rural policy and rural economy issues.

This Workshop intends to be a discussion place aiming how rural development policies constrain farming systems and the farm sustainability, especially addressing the following issues:

• What are the rural development policies conducted by European countries?
• What are their results in terms of productive and environmental logic of rural farms?
• What is the farmer behaviour towards rural development policies?
• Which model of farming system will be suitable to pursue by the next European rural policies?
• What strategies will be found to adjust rural policies to the new world?

Workshop Processes

The workshop will run over two phases:

Phase 1 – Introduction with examples of rural development initiatives (conceptualization, governance, institution support, balance, results). Each presentation will last for max. 10 minutes (depending of the proposals) and focus on the following questions:

1. What is the essence of the approach you have used? (conceptualization)
2. What is the model of governance used? (governance and institution support)
3. What have been the positive outcomes thus far? (results)
4. What are the main lessons you have learned? (balance)

Phase 2 - The participants will then, in groups, reflect over and respond to the following two questions:

1. What about this approach did you find new, useful, and appealing?
2. What are the two questions you would like to ask the presenters?

Papers

5.3 Global overview of the Rural Development Programme: the mainland Portugal case-study

5.3 The impact of subsidies on the agricultural sector: A linear programming approach to Portuguese farming

5.3 A model for the agricultural planning at farm level for the European Union countries

5.3 The Efficiency of POSEI and PRORURAL Programs in Azores Islands Development