Food and drink

The Anders Wall Award for private individuals who have made a special contribution to the rural environment in the European Union is open for applications.

Anders Wall Foundation from Stockholm in association with the European Commission, Directorate General for the Environment, Brussels, the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry and the "Friends of the Countryside", has introduced the award.

Only private enterprises can enter the competition.

Their achievements should preferably include the following elements:

The Plunkett Foundation's Community Ownership Awards 2016 are open for entries.

Community-owned businesses in the UK and Ireland are being encouraged to enter the awards run by the national charity Plunkett Foundation.

The awards have nine geographic categories and are open to all forms of trading activity from shops and pubs to farms, woodlands and broadband projects.

Launching the Awards, Plunkett’s Head of Frontline James Alcock said:

Scottish Rural Action have revealed the winners of the national Rural Innovators Award 2015-16.

The awards recognise people, projects and organisations who are working to improve live in rural communities across Scotland. The winners have been invited to attend and present their projects to delegates attending the Scottish Rural Parliament, organised by Scottish Rural Action, in Brechin, Angus from 6 to 8 October 2016. 
 
The winners in each category are:

In this event report, Don Morrison from the Scottish Rural Network Support Unit reports on the recent cooperation event in Estonia, and Kim Ritchie from Angus LEADER tells us about the Local Action Group tour she took part in as part of the event.

The recent Transnational Cooperation (TNC) Fair held in Estonia was attended by a number of Scottish representatives including delegates from Angus and Cairngorms LEADER as well as Don Morrison and Alistair Prior from the Scottish Rural Network.

The deadline for applications for the current funding round of the Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation scheme is 25 September 2016.

Scottish Rural Action have launched a new rural manifesto ahead of the second Scottish Rural Parliament event.

The manifesto will be agreed at the Scottish Rural Parliament taking place in Brechin, Angus from 6 to 8 October. Around 400 people are expected to attend the event.

The manifesto has been created following a series of events across rural Scotland, and an online survey, with people sharing their views on the issues that matter the most to them.