Building the Future of Europe’s Rural Areas
Highlights from the 2025 Rural Pact Conference
On the 16th and 17th of September 2025, more than 250 participants gathered at the Château du Biez in Pecq, Belgium, for the Rural Pact Conference, a key moment for those working to strengthen Europe’s rural areas – a moment of connection, inspiration, and co-creation. Representatives from civil society, public authorities, EU institutions, academia, and rural networks came together to exchange experiences, explore new ideas, and help shape the future of EU rural policy.
As an active member of the Rural Pact community, ECOLISE took part in the discussions to highlight how community-led action can drive environmental and social transitions in rural areas. Through its participation, including co-facilitating a networking corner on “Environmental Actions for Community-Led Transition”, ECOLISE aimed to strengthen collaboration with EU institutions and rural stakeholders, and to ensure that local, bottom-up initiatives are recognised as essential partners in building thriving, resilient rural territories across Europe.
This two-day event, organised by the Rural Pact Support Office (RPSO), focused on one central goal: to collect recommendations that will inform the update of the EU’s Rural Action Plan.
EU Policy Voices and Shared Visions
The plenary sessions featured high-level contributions from key representatives of the European Commission. Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, announced that upcoming revisions to EU Cohesion programmes will offer more flexibility to tailor actions to rural needs, while Christopher Hansen, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, reaffirmed the importance of keeping rural areas attractive and livable, and stressed that the updated Rural Action Plan will reinforce the LEADER approach, a cornerstone of community-led rural development.
On the other hand, Elisabeth Werner, Director-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, elaborated on the Action Plan’s three pillars: network activities, a funding-access toolkit, and the Rural Observatory. Addressing concerns about the future of LEADER, she reassured participants that the Commission remains firmly committed to supporting vibrant rural communities and participatory, bottom-up governance models.
The conference closed with reflections from Hugo Sobral (DG REGIO) and Mihail Dumirtu (DG AGRI), who underlined the need for coherence and collaboration across EU departments to make rural policies truly effective.
Citizens demand a right to viable and participatory rural development
Throughout the conference, one message resonated clearly: rural people want a right to stay. Under this shared banner, participants called for policies that allow citizens to continue living, working, and thriving in the places they call home.
While the deprivation of rural areas was identified as a common concern, several presentations focused on providing information and statistics on the diverse realities of rural life in Europe. These presentations also highlighted the key strengths of rural areas, their value to EU society as a whole, and many untapped potentials.
Much attention was further put on emphasizing the key role that LEADER/CLLD should continue to take in future EU agricultural and rural development policy.
While the EU Commission affirmed that approaches such as LEADER and Smart villages shall be reinforced and kept mandatory for all member states, a strong concern was expressed by many citizens regarding the lack of ringfencing of the budget for the program. Citizens warned that without ringfencing a minimum allocation for LEADER/CLLD at the EU policy level, there is a risk that the program will be weakened at national levels.
ECOLISE at the Heart of Community-Led Transitions
Among the ten networking corners hosted during the conference, ECOLISE’s session “Environmental Actions for Community-Led Transition” drew great attention. Facilitated by Mieke Elzenga and Amelie Krug, the session showcased ECOLISE’s work to empower communities across Europe in their ecological and social transitions.
Amelie presented the Regenerative Communities Fund (RCF), a financial and capacity-building mechanism supporting community-led projects with seed funding, learning opportunities, and peer exchanges. The RCF aims to partner with LEADER Local Action Groups, bridging grassroots innovation and EU policy.
Mieke introduced the FLIARA project, which focuses on female-led innovation in agriculture and rural areas. She shared personal reflections as a FLIARA ambassador, describing the challenges many women face in rural entrepreneurship, from underrecognition to limited access to resources, and the project’s efforts to change that.
Following ECOLISE’s presentations, participants exchanged experiences and reflected on what’s needed to make environmental action in rural areas more inclusive and effective. Many agreed that a just green transition can only happen if all communities have access to the right support, from public funding to clear information about the economic benefits of joining local initiatives like energy cooperatives or circular economy projects. Others emphasised the importance of strengthening local capacity, noting that many rural areas already hold valuable knowledge and solutions, but often lack visibility or the means to share them.
Finally, the role of municipalities in implementing the European Green Deal at local levels was discussed: to make real progress, they need not just the will, but the mandate and resources to implement climate and sustainability plans. Drawing from examples like Italy, where regional Sustainable Energy and Climate Plans (SECAPs) are mandatory, participants called for similar approaches to be scaled up across Europe. These reflections, together with action cards filled out by the participants, were gathered by the Rural Pact Support Office and will feed into the next phase of the Rural Pact process, a collective effort to turn dialogue into action for Europe’s rural transition.
Updating the Rural Action Plan
The second day of the conference was dedicated to group discussions, offering space for deeper dialogue around eight key themes, from digitalisation and energy transition to youth engagement, resilience, and bioeconomy. Each group explored obstacles, opportunities, and policy solutions, contributing to a shared pool of insights that will help shape the next version of the Rural Action Plan.
The discussions echoed ECOLISE’s ongoing commitment to community-led action for sustainability, from renewable energy communities to cooperative housing and local climate planning.
As Europe revises its Rural Action Plan, ECOLISE hopes to see an even stronger recognition of the role that community-led initiatives play in shaping a fair, green, and resilient rural future.
About the Rural Pact
The Rural Pact, launched by the European Commission in 2021 as part of its Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas, aims to amplify rural voices, foster collaboration, and encourage joint commitments. It builds on a shared understanding: that rural areas are vital to Europe’s social and ecological resilience, yet continue to face challenges such as depopulation, economic decline, and uneven access to resources.
