Meeting in Navarre and participation at the Presura Fair

The project partners met again in Pamplona the week of 16-22 October, in a meeting framed within the Presura 2023 'Amanecer Rural' Fair, which took place from 20-22 October in the capital of Navarre, and in which we participated in a panel of the event's programme.

The working sessions during those days, which were supported by presentations and documentation from experts in the field, aimed to illustrate the magnitude of the challenge faced by the project and to address the variety of solutions offered by the participating regions. Among the actions carried out were visits to both the Pyrenees and the Sierra de Codés to learn first-hand about the projects being promoted in both areas in terms of depopulation.

Before the start of the meeting, the Director General of Local Administration and Depopulation of the Government of Navarre, Jesús Mª Rodríguez, stressed that "this week, thanks to the celebration of the Presura Fair, one of the reference movements in favour of the rural world, Navarre is the epicentre of policies to reverse the demographic challenge. It allows us to bring the different perspectives on this path of repopulation closer to our land. In this context, I would like to point out that the Government of Navarre has been a pioneer in placing policies to combat depopulation at the highest level. In this context, I would like to point out that the Government of Navarre has been a pioneer in placing policies to combat depopulation at the highest level. We understand this policy in a cross-cutting way, with a municipal and rural outlook. Both the holding of Presura and the hosting of the Interreg project meeting are some of the examples of this commitment to our towns and villages and their citizens".

For his part, the European representative of the project, Aare Kasemets, stressed that "in my country, Estonia, the problem of territorial inequality is also very present. I believe that the solution lies in integrating regulations at four levels: European, national, regional and local, because citizens are the main actors in this issue and they are the ones who will measure the actions promoted by governments".

The General Directorate of Local Administration and Depopulation of the Government of Navarre is the entity leading the project, which is completed with six other public and private international organisations: the Non-Governmental Organisation for Development, Cives Mundi, from Soria; the association 'Centre for Sustainability and Economic Growth' from Bulgaria; the Ministry of Rural Affairs of Estonia; the Union of Tartu County Municipalities in Estonia; Galway County Council in Ireland; and the municipality of Bratsigovo in Bulgaria.

Presura 2023 Fair, 'Rural Dawn'.

The working sessions of the Interreg project were framed in the Presura 2023 Fair 'Amanecer Rural' which had 11 round tables made up of 63 expert speakers on different subjects related to the fight against depopulation.

The event was inaugurated on Friday 20th by the President of Navarra, María Chivite Navascués, and by the Secretary General for the Demographic Challenge, Francisco Boya.

Our project was the protagonist of the first panel, entitled RURAL PROOFING. COOPERATION FOR BETTER GOVERNANCE WITH A RURAL FOCUS, with the participation of:

AARE KASEMETS. Impact Assessment and Inclusion Adviser Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture (Estonia)

GEORGI SIMEONOV. Centre for Sustainability and Economic Growth (Bulgaria)

BERNIE DONNELLAN. Galway County Council (Ireland)

MIRIAM GONZÁLEZ. Promoter of the Better Spain platform.

JESUS Mª RODRÍGUEZ. Director General of Local Administration and Depopulation Government of Navarre.

Moderator. MIGUEL M. TOMEY. Historia