The Rural Pact Support Office

About the Rural Pact Support Office 

The Rural Pact Support Office (RPSO) provides facilitation and networking services to the Rural Pact and its community, aiming to achieve the objectives of the Rural Pact and the long-term vision for EU’s rural areas.  The RPSO actively seeks synergies and complementarities with other EU policy networks and initiatives dedicated to rural development, aiming to foster stronger, connected, prosperous, and resilient rural areas throughout Europe. 

Key activities of the RPSO

The RPSO is tasked for three years to conduct various activities to achieve the three objectives of the Rural Pact:  

  • Objective 1: amplify the voice of rural areas to bring them higher on the political agenda 

    • Organise two Policy Action Labs per year to provide a space for policymakers and rural actors to learn, inspire and co-create concrete recommendations  

    • Organise a Rural Pact Policy Forum, a high-level policy event to raise awareness and bring up in the political agenda a key rural issue  

    • Produce an annual policy briefing to raise awareness, build capacity and provide inspiration for utilising EU funds and improving EU policies. 

  • Objective 2: enable networking, collaboration and mutual learning

    • Organise four Good Practice Webinars per year for capacity building and peer learning  

    • Identify and promote 40 good practices per year that can inspire actions in for the revitalization of rural areas 

    • Publish an annual Rural Vision Magazine to inspire the Rural Pact community by showcasing actions of peers, key member’s opinions, inspirational cases and information 

    • Release a monthly Newsletter to take stock of the most significant developments affecting rural areas, and which are relevant for the Rural Pact community 

  • Objective 3: encourage and monitor voluntary commitments for action 

    • Support and participation in events to raise awareness about the Rural Pact and the RPSO activities 

    • Provide commitments report which collects, analyses and summarises information on the implementation of the Rural Pact participant’s commitments and the Rural Pact objectives 

    • Feed Rural Pact & Revitalisation platform by regularly sharing news, event information, good practices resources and supporting the formation and activities of the Community groups 

  • The RPSO is also undertaking crosscutting activities which include : 
    • Conduct a stakeholder mapping and analysis to obtain a comprehensive picture of the community, identify new stakeholders, and assess their diverse needs and interests 
    • Keep the community informed through the website, social media channels, and the info line
    • Build a contact database in accordance with the EU Data Protection rules, to enable targeted communication  
    • Strengthen links with other networks to build synergies and complementarities with other relevant initiatives working on and for rural development  

Link with the Rural Pact Coordination Group 

The RPSO works in close collaboration with the Rural Pact Coordination Group, a steering committee established by the European Commission to further develop and steer the Rural Pact.  

The RPSO is in charge of organising 2 Coordination Group meetings per year where the Coordination group will provide strategic orientations for the Rural Pact and suggestions of events, activities to be undertaken by the RPSO.  

Get in touch with the RPSO 

To contact the RPSO, interested individuals and organisations can reach out to the team by sending emails to info@rural-pact.eu .