One year after the start of the project, the EC4RURAL consortium is organising its second general meeting this week in Tartu (Estonia), with the participation of the ten partners. From 26th to 27th September, the days will be dedicated to organisational issues, as well as to the evolution of the project, the milestones achieved and the objectives to be reached. The optional third day is dedicated to exploring this university city, which has been designated European Capital of Culture in 2024 to coincide with the 800th anniversary of its founding. Tartu is located in the south of the country, about two hours by train from the capital, Tallinn.

The meeting will be hosted by the four Estonian partners of EC4RURAL: the University of Tartu, the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities, the Tartu Regional Energy Agency and the Estonian LEADER Union (ELU).

From Galicia (Spain) will be the University of Vigo (project leader), the Galician Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEGAMP), the Sapiens Energía cooperative, the EspazoCoop Union of Galician Cooperatives and the Juana de Vega Foundation. The European Leading Association for Rural Development (ELARD) will travel from Belgium.

Programme and visit Rõuge and Elva municipalities

The meeting, which will take place at Tartu Creative Industries Conference Centre, will start on Thursday 26th at 9:00 with a welcome by Mihkel Solvak, Vice Dean for Research and Development of the Faculty of Social Sciences (University of Tartu). Xavier Simón, Coordinator and Professor of Applied Economics at UVigo, will then present the EC4RURAL project. Antti Roose, Professor of Resource Management at the University of Tartu, will summarise the programme and the main points of the annual meeting.

Until one o’clock, the partners will present the status of each work package and after lunch, they will travel by bus to Rõuge, one of the twelve Estonian municipalities participating in EC4RURAL. The others are Alutaguse, Elva, Hiiumaa, Järva, Lääne-Harju, Põltsamaa, Saku, Tori, Türi, Viimsi and Viru-Nigula. Together they cover more than 9,000 hectares and are home to more than 125,000 people.

On Friday 27th, the Galician and Estonian partners will present the development and status of the two pilots and will use the afternoon to visit the municipality of Elva. An EC4RURAL Steering Committee meeting will also take place during the morning.

The social part of this meeting has been reserved for Saturday 28th, when the hosts have organised several guided tours in the city of Tartu.