Innovation

The 2019 British Farming Award entries are now open – and they’re looking for their next Diversification Innovator of the Year.

With increasing input costs, food prices being driven down and the unknown impact of Brexit looming, farmers are having to find new ways to boost their profits and become ever more resilient.

In this report, the Rural Youth Project tell us about an inspiring learning journey to the Netherlands.

The Rural Youth Project and Scottish Enterprise Urban/Rural Learning Journey was a collaboration to engage participants to “think different” regarding rural enterprise, sustainability and agriculture.

A group of farmers are working with a commercial feed processor to try and grow the UK's first viable organic seed rape crop for the animal feed supply chain.

​The five organic farmers in the North East are being supported by the Rural Innovation Support Service, which is part of the Scottish Rural Network and led by Soil Association Scotland. The group was formed to meet a need for locally-grown organic protein for pigs and poultry.

Do you want to join people from across Europe on a course on social innovation in rural areas?

Applications are now being accepted to take part in a one-week Advanced Course on Social Innovation in Rural Areas in Zaragoza, Spain. All participants will be exempt from the payment of registration fees.

Advanced Course on Social Innovation In Rural Areas

Please note: timings to be confirmed with organisers

Social innovation has been heralded as a vital part of the European recovery project since the economic crisis in 2008. It is of particular importance to rural areas, especially more disadvantaged rural areas, where multiple problems of depopulation, environmental quality decline and low levels of economic activity have been recurrent. With the trend of rapid urbanisation, the remoter rural areas will continue to be adversely affected.

12th OECD Rural Development Conference: delivering well-being

How can policies raise well-being in rural areas? The 12th OECD Rural Development Conference will tackle this central question by examining the multiple aspects of rural wellbeing, including role of innovation and digitalisation in revitalising rural communities and making them attractive for business and residents alongside strategies to deliver quality public services and to help rural regions transition to a low carbon economy.

Update from Highlands & Islands Connections project

Earlier this year we reported on a new rural mental health project – Highlands & Islands Connections. In this article we get an update on work that’s happening in two pilot locations.

Pre Interest Registration is open for a £2 million investment fund that will support the testing of the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) concept in Scotland.

MaaS will provide people with easy, digital access to travel information, allowing them to make informed decisions on journey choices. For example, this could include solutions to gather personalised travel requirements into a single travel app or a service to allow unlimited access to multiple transport providers via a monthly user fee.

Earlier this week, Mairi Gougeon announced a newly funded project through the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF),  which aims to help farmers by supporting projects aimed at increasing farmers skills and knowledge. To date the Scottish Government has awarded over £5 million to 21 projects through the scheme.

This week, we met with colleagues from the LEADER Delivery Team (LDT), Tyne Esk LEADER and the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) team to support the EU Desk Officer, Egle Puosiunaite, from the European Commission on her visit to Scotland. Ms.

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