ACoRD – Alliance for Joint Rural Development is a project funded by the European Union under the “Civil Society Support Program 2012”. The project is implemented by ACED – Agency for Cooperation, Education and Development as a leading organization, in cooperation with domestic partner organizations REDAH, Nešto Više, LAG Una-Sana, and European partner ELARD – European Association LEADER for Rural Development. The project is also supported by the Swedish organization WE EFFECT.
One of the first activities of the project is a conference on rural development in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was held on May 28, 2013 in Sarajevo, at the Hollywood Hotel. The organization of the conference “Rural Development in BiH” was assisted by HMRR – Croatian Network for Rural Development and PREPARE – Partnership for Rural Europe.
The conference was attended by 80 participants, representatives of civil society from all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as representatives of the public sector from the entity and state levels. The conference was attended by relevant actors in the field of rural development from Europe and neighboring countries: Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. The participants at the Conference had the opportunity to get more detailed information and to take part in the discussion on the following topics:
– Expectations and goals of the ACoRD project;
– Rural development in BiH;
– National networks for rural development in the EU (Presentations of ELARD and PREPARE);
– Rural development in the region (Rural Development Networks of Serbia and Croatia) and
– IPARD in Bosnia and Herzegovina through Croatian experiences.
All participants welcomed and positively assessed all the goals of the ACoRD project, especially the construction of the Rural Development Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the conference, participants repeatedly stressed the importance of establishing a partnership between civil society and government representatives in order to make progress in the field of rural development in the country.
