On 27-28 October 2015, the EIP-AGRI Service Point and the ENRD Contact Point, with the support of the Estonian Rural Network, are jointly organising a workshop dedicated to the support of networks in the implementation of measure 16 in Rural Development Programmes (RDP).

This event will focus on the implementation of EIP-AGRI at national / regional level, promote discussions about issues related to networking to support Operational Groups (OG), at national / regional and EU level and will also address other innovative cooperation actions within RDPs (under measure 16).

The overall objective of the workshop is to share experiences and discuss on the support that networks are providing within the context of innovation and cooperation at national / regional and EU level, with specific reference to:

• Implementation of EIP-AGRI at national / regional level
• Networking to support Operational Groups, at national / regional and EU level
• Other innovative cooperation actions within RDPs (measure 16)

Specific objectives:

• To get a general overview on how the implementation of EIP is organized at national / regional level and which units support EIP-AGRI;
• To promote the exchange of ideas and initial experiences on how Network Support Units (NSUs) in NRNs and other EIP-AGRI support units integrate activities related to Operational Groups in their action plans;
• To discuss possibilities to improve cooperation by exchange of information between EIP-AGRI support units at national/regional level and EIP-AGRI Service Point;
• To present to EIP-AGRI support units some new EIP-AGRI tools and activities, while involving them in product development;
• To address specific issues related to other innovative cooperation actions within RDPs (measure 16).

Participants are network support units of National Rural Networks (national and regional level) and other EIP-AGRI support units. As far as possible, participants who are working directly with EIP-AGRI implementation have been invited.

The workshop combines plenary presentations, discussions and interactive work.

The sessions of the first day introduce the context and provide an overview about the implementation of EIP-AGRI in Member States, and address networking to support Operational Groups at national / regional level. The sessions of the second day focus on networking at EU level and include discussions on other innovative cooperation actions within RDPs (measure 16). Ref. Ares(2015)4065222 - 02/10/2015

Draft programme
Please note that this workshop will be held in English