A New Rural Framework for Northern Ireland

On the 16^th of January CCBS Director, Anthony Soares, participated in a stakeholder engagement event in the Loughry Campus of CAFRE organised by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). Drawing a large audience of interested organisations, this event sought views on the development of a new rural framework for Northern Ireland, reflecting on proposals put forward by five working groups looking at innovation and entrepreneurship, rural tourism, social wellbeing, employment, and connectivity. The new framework comes in the context of the UK’s departure from the European Union and its rural development programme, and among the issues raised by the CCBS Director and others, was the need for any such framework to encourage rural connectivity and collaboration across borders.

You can view the presentations from the event here