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Cast your vote: Two Irish Projects Shortlisted for the European Rural Inspiration Awards

Mar 13, 2019 | Biodiversity News, Climate Change News, LEADER News

Nominated by the National Rural Network, two projects based in Ireland – Mid Ireland Adventure in Offaly and Golashane Farm Nature Reserve in Meath – have been shortlisted for the Rural Inspiration Awards.

Rural Inspiration Awards

An initiative of the European Network for Rural Development (ENRD), the inaugural Rural Inspiration Awards aim to celebrate how rural development projects and policy contribute to a more competitive, sustainable and inclusive rural Europe. The ENRD received 176 entries overall and 25 projects have been shortlisted in five categories.

Popular vote

An expert jury will select one winner per category. In addition, a sixth winner will be selected based on the results of the popular vote. Voting is open until April 11th at 12.00 (CET time).

Cast your vote through the online voting system.

Improving Competitiveness – Mid Ireland Adventure

Shortlisted in the ‘improving the competitiveness of rural areas’ category Mid Ireland Adventure is a start-up adventure tourism business that has received support through the LEADER Programme. Tourism is a sector of major importance to the rural economy, especially given the modern trend for active lifestyles. Some rural areas have not yet harnessed its full potential and Mid Ireland Adventure aims to address the growing demand for activity tourism in a rural setting. It provides a wide range of activities, including mountain bike tours, guided walks, summer camps and stand up paddle board safaris.

Environment and Climate Action – Golashane Farm Nature Reserve

In the environment and climate action category, Meath based Golashane Farm Nature Reserve is part of the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS). The farm focuses strongly on enhancing biodiversity. It has contributed to providing species-specific habitat enhancement for bats, other mammals, birds and insects. The local community has also been involved in on-farm research projects, and a wildlife festival is held on the farm every two years.

Winners will be announced at ‘networX’, the ENRD networking event taking place in Brussels on 11-12 April 2019.

For more information on the two shortlisted Irish projects see Mid Ireland Adventure and Golashane Farm Nature Reserve  good practice case studies.

Don’t forget to vote for your winning project through the online voting system.

For more information on the Rural Inspiration Awards see: https://enrd.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/rural-inspiration-awards-public-vote-open_en

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