National Partners

Michael Dower

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Our wonderful friend, mentor and supporter, Michael Dower, sadly passed away on Monday November 7, 2022, just a week before his 89^th birthday. In his lifetime, Michael was a force in European rural development. He was instrumental in developing the European Rural Parliament partnership and process, including co-ordinating and writing the foundational document ‘All Europe shall Live’, based on a survey of all of our European Partners, from which he developed the first ERP Manifesto at the 2^nd ERP Gathering in Austria in 2015. These have remained our baseline documents.

In addition to the ERP, Michael’s work in rural development was extensive. He co-founded and served as coordinator of PREPARE - Pre-accession Partnership for Rural Europe, supporting the launch of many national and regional rural movements and rural parliaments in Central and Eastern Europe. He founded and served as President of ECOVAST – the European Council for the Village and Small Town. He co-founded and animated the European Agricultural Convention (EAC), now ARC2020. He was a very active member of Forum Synergies and many other European civic initiatives. He was co-creating the CURE - Convention for Urban and Rural Europe.

Prior to his post-retirement activism in European rural civil society, Michael managed the Peak District National Park in England; was Director General of the Countryside Commission for England and Wales; and was Professor of European Rural Development at the University of Gloucestershire. He edited and promoted the European Landscape Convention for the Council of Europe.

Michael was passionate about rural areas, their people, landscapes, land use and ecology. In the later years of his life, he worked tirelessly to advocate on the climate change emergency, and led local woodland management projects, working with school children, where he lived in Dorset, England.

Michael was, and is, an inspiration to us all. He urged us to be bold and brave and urgent in our work. His legacy lies within us and our continuing, collective work to support and develop rural Europe – our wonderful home.

Thank you Michael!

The ERP has National Partners in 40 countries within the wider Europe:

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, UK: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales.

For information on each partner organisation click this link

For a map of partner locations click this link

National Partners are membership-based civil society organizations. Their membership structure varies between countries, including:

rural village movements with wide membership of the rural communities – gathered at local, regional and national levels to support rural areas and people
a forum or network of national or regional organisations representing different sectors of rural society, each with its own membership
networks of Local Action Groups (LAGs) - partnerships between private, civil and public sectors, operating with the LEADER method, to offer advice and support to rural entrepreneurs, communities and voluntary groups, which serve many thousands of rural citizens.

Through these membership structures, the partner organisations have both a commitment, and a built-in mechanism, to disseminate information, ideas, practical examples and support to and from rural communities and citizens across Europe.

National Partners
Albania	Albanian Network for Rural Development, ANRD
	Quodev
Armenia	Development Principles NGO, Armenia
Austria	LEADER-forum Austria
Belarus	International Foundation on Rural Development
	Sustainable development Centre
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Network for Rural development in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria	STEP, Society for Territorial and Environmental Prosperity
Croatia	Croatian Rural Development Network – HMRR
Cyprus	Troodos Network of Thematic Centers
Czech Republic	National Network of Local Action Groups in the Czech Republic
Denmark	Council of Rural Districts – (Landsdistrikternes Fællesråd LDF)
England (UK)	Action with Communities in Rural England - ACRE
Estonia	Estonian Village Movement – Kodukant (MTÜ Eesti Külaliikumine)
Finland	Village Action Association of Finland (Suomen kylätoiminta ry, SYTY)
France	LEADER France (la Fédération des GAL de France)
Georgia	Civil Development Agency (CiDA)
Germany	Federal working group of LEADER Action Groups (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der LEADER)
	Village Movement Brandenburg (Dorfbewegung Brandenburg Netzwerk)
Greece	Greek LEADER Network
Hungary	Rural Workshop Foundation (representing Hungarian Rural Network)
Iceland	Islandic Landsbyggȏin Lifi
Ireland	Irish Rural Link
Kosovo	Network of Organisations for Rural Development of Kosovo
Latvia	Latvian Rural Forum (Latvijas Lauku forums)
Lithuania	Lithuanian Rural Communities Union
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	Rural Development Network of the Republic of Macedonia
Moldova	Pro Cooperare Regională NGO
Montenegro	Network for Rural Development of Montenegro
Netherlands	Landelijke Vereniging voor Kleine Kernen LVKK
Northern Ireland UK	Rural Community Network
Poland	Polish Forum on the Animation of Rural Areas
Portugal	MINHA TERRA Network
Romania	Civitas Foundation for Civil Society
Scotland UK	Scottish Rural Action
Serbia	Network for Rural Development of Serbia
Slovakia	Rural Parliament in Slovakia (Vidiecky parlament na Slovensku VIPA)
Slovenia	Slovenian Rural Development Network
Spain	Spanish Network for Rural Development (REDR)
	Cordinacao Rural de Catalunya
Sweden	Hela Sverige ska leva (HSSL)
Turkey	Development Foundation of Turkey (Türkiye Kalkınma Vakfı)
Ukraine	National Ecological Centre of Ukraine
Wales UK	PLANED (Pembrokeshire Local Action Network for Enterprise and Development)

Michael Dower

National partners