The long-term vision for rural areas covers the whole of the EU´s territory, but there can be big differences between Member States and therefore national, regional and local organisations working towards the vision’s goals need to tailor their plans to the specific needs of their country. For instance, one significant difference between Finland and the EU is bioeconomic turnover. In Finland, forestry and industry represent 63% of bioeconomic turnover while agriculture and the food sector account for 30%. For the EU, the figures are 15% for forestry and industry and 75% for agriculture and the food sector. Also, Finland is one of the few EU countries with a national holistic rural policy. This is led by the national Rural Policy Council, chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. The Minister of Employment acts as vice chair. Rural policy work is organised at a national level since research, rural proofing, guidance, dialogue and cooperation are key tools used to implement the EU rural vision, objectives and measures of Finland’s rural policy programme. In September 2023 a presentation was created as a part of the webpage to give a Finnish point of view for the EU rural vision.

To offer a Finnish perspective on the rural vision and the measures taken to achieve its goals. The website is structured into five key elements: 

The platform’s content was put together in co-operation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Rural Policy Council and the Rural Network Support Unit. The ministry’s communication experts coordinated the process, while key rural policy and rural development experts developed the policy content. The process lasted a month and was part of the Finnish delegation’s preparation for the High-level Rural Policy Forum held in Spain in September 2023, organised by the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission with the Rural Pact Support Office.

The questions ‘What do we want to tell others about our perspective of the rural vision?’, ‘How to clarify the Member State’s point of view’ and ‘What are we doing to meet the goals of the rural vision?’ were key to reflect on what was needed. These simple questions lead a process for clarifying what the rural vision means on the national level. The key conclusion drawn from this reflective process was that aligning communication about the Finnish perspective on the rural vision required a thoughtful consideration of the national standpoint and the specific actions taken to achieve the vision’s goals. This exercise not only clarified the concept of the rural vision at the national level but also highlighted the value of regularly updated, concise information for both national and EU contexts. Having similar information from all Member States could be very useful, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of diverse situations and actions while fostering opportunities for peer learning.