The European Rural Development Network (ERDN) dates back to 2002. It was established to integrate the efforts and competences of various European research institutions in their joint works on the state and paths of transformation of rural areas, in particular farming, with the view to extension of the EU and its future policies. Thus, the main objectives of the ERDN are parallel to the Community’s idea of building the European Research Area for agriculture and rural development. The Network is meant to encompass the leading research centres studying rural development in Europe, and in particular in its central, eastern and south-eastern countries. The Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics – National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI), Warsaw, Poland, is responsible for coordination of its activity.
The involvement of institutions, but mostly all of its individual members, makes it – apart from a research network – a forum for knowledge and information exchange based on mutual friendship, trust and goodwill. This decides on the unique character of the ERDN, where informal ties (social capital) and commitment of a group of people from various countries is the value added of the strictly scientific work. It is our achievement that we are proud of. Simultaneously, each new member of the Network is happily welcomed and quickly finds his or her place and inspiration for research work.
What we aim for?
One of the main features of rural development is its complexity. Observations and analyses of the situation in rural areas should be carried out based on different scientific points of view which will help to determine the vision for the future.
The main objectives of the ERDN are:
- networking between researchers of different scientific backgrounds and countries of origin to analyse the state, perspectives and strategies of action with respect to the development of rural areas in Central-Eastern European Countries;
- international and intergenerational knowledge transfer through joint research in the area of rural development;
- advancing international scientific cooperation in rural development and agriculture, in particular drawing on the Network’s experience in international scientific research programmes;
- sharing and promotion of scientific experiences and achievements of the participants of the ERDN to support policymakers and stakeholders concerned with sustainable development of European rural areas.
The efforts of the Network’s members in investigation of rural processes provide extensive information needed to understand the specificity of rural development in CEE, especially in the context of the EU policy reforms and enlargements. Different scientific backgrounds, international origin of the ERDN experts and over a decade of successful cooperation help to prepare complex and interdisciplinary solutions for research and policy making. The members of the Network are representing the leading universities and research institutes in Central-Eastern Europe.
What we do?
The Network takes efforts aimed at common elaboration of research topics in the fields strategic for rural development and wining new institutional partners. The cooperation involves exchange of publications, statistical data, joint initiatives to raise funds from the EU Framework Programmes and other entities (such as: the International Visegrad Fund, the EEA and Norway grants and national programs), exchange of scientists and numerous meetings during seminars, conferences and scientific workshops.
The annual conferences are the basis for the ERDN development, knowledge sharing and the source of its future research ideas. Our past events were devoted to:
- 2001: European Rural Development. Problems, Chances, Research Needs, conference organised by IIASA, Polish Academy of Sciences, IAFE-NRI, Warsaw, Poland, 7-9.05.2001
- 2002: Rural development – farming, multifunctionality, new activities: existing resources and sustainable strategies vs. employment and competitiveness, meeting of the Polish sub-section of the Network, Warsaw, Poland, 8.05.2002
- 1st ERDN Conference 2003: Alternatives for European Rural Areas, Falenty, Poland, 21-22.02.2003
- 2nd ERDN Conference 2004: Changes in functioning of rural areas in the Baltic countries, Warsaw, Poland, 21-22.10.2004
- 3rd ERDN Conference 2005: Rural Development Capacity in Carpathian Europe, Tylicz, Poland, 20-21.11.2005
- 4th ERDN Conference 2006: Endogenous factors stimulating rural development, Mądralin Poland, 12-15.10.2006
- 5th ERDN Conference 2007: Values and Challenges in Designing The European Rural Structures – Research Network Experience, Sinaia, Romania, 13-16.09.2007
- 6th ERDN Conference 2008: Multifunctional Territories: Importance of Rural Areas beyond Food Production, Vienna, Austria, 20-21.11.2008
- 7th ERDN Conference 2009: Linking competitiveness with equity and sustainability: new ideas for the socio-economic development of rural areas, Debrecen, Hungary, 29-30.10.2009
- 8th ERDN Conference 2010: Rural Development: Quo Vadis?, Warsaw, Poland, 15-17.10.2010
- 9th ERDN Conference 2011: Rural development policies from the EU enlargement perspective, Kastel Ecka, Serbia, 8-9.09.2011
- 10th ERDN Conference 2012: Knowledge as a factor of rural areas development, Poznań-Zielonka, Poland, 17-20.10.2012
- 11th ERDN Conference 2013: EU transformations under CAP 2007-2013 and rural development perspectives in the future programming period 2014-2020, General Berthelot, Romania, 3-4.10.2013
- 12th ERDN Conference 2014: Rural development in Eastern EU And Neighbourhood Countries – Present And Future, Chisinau, Moldova, 2-4.10.2014
- 13th ERDN Conference 2015: The central-eastern EU model for competitive and sustainable agriculture and rural development, Zakopane, Poland, 18-21.10.2015
- 14th ERDN Conference 2016: Knowledge sharing and innovation in agriculture and rural areas, Budapest, Hungary, 3-5.10.2016
- 15th ERDN Conference: Innovation and Cooperation in Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Rural Regions, Eisenstadt, Austria, 3-4.10.2017.
- 16th ERDN Conference: CAP 2020+: experiences and ideas for future rural areas and development, Romania, 17-19.09.2018.
- 17th ERDN Conference: CAP 2021+: balanced development among the dimensions of rural sustainability, Czech Republic, 17-18-19.09.2019.
- 18th ERDN Conference was divided into the 2 sessions at:
- VIII Conference of the Institute of Agricultural Economics –Agricultural Academy (BG) in the co-partnership with the European Rural Development Network: Agriculture and Food Supply: Markets And Policies, Sofia, Bulgaria, October 27-28, 2021, hybrid.
- Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, Polish Academy of Sciences together with State Institute for Economics and Forecasting of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine under the cooperation within the European Rural Development Network organised an International Conference: Inclusive rural development: empirical evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Poland, November 8, 2021, online.
Please check the CONFERENCES site for more detailed information!
Outcomes from the above-mentioned scientific events jointly conducted research and other works of scientific community of CEECs can be found in the ERDN yearbook “Rural areas and development” as well as a number of scientific journals that we cooperate with (check “Publications” section).
If you and your institution would like to become a member of the ERDN contact us: erdn@erdn.eu, or check our website for the next ERDN International Conference and join us there!
European Rural Development Network is an association (NGO) based in Poland, registered in the EU R&I Participant Portal. The Participant Identification Code (PIC) for the ERDN is 905106322
Secretariat of the ERDN:
Szkolna 2/4, 00-006 Warszawa, Poland.
Phone +48 22 50 54 774, fax +48 22 827 19 60,
Coordinator: dr Paweł Chmieliński