All the nodes that make up the network in a territory.

Cantabrian Network for Rural Development Space and conversations for the Culturea Cantabria Project, the Office of Rural Sustainability (Oficina Técnica de Sostenibilidad Rural – Red Cántabra de Desarrollo Rural) and Naturea Cantabria – Red Cántabra de Desarrollo Rural. Naturea Cantabria is the program for the revitalization and maintenance of public use in the Network of […]
All the nodes that make up the network in a territory.
November 1, 2022 8:42 am
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Cantabrian Network for Rural Development

Space and conversations for the Culturea Cantabria Project, the Office of Rural Sustainability (Oficina Técnica de Sostenibilidad Rural – Red Cántabra de Desarrollo Rural) and Naturea Cantabria – Red Cántabra de Desarrollo Rural.

Naturea Cantabria is the program for the revitalization and maintenance of public use in the Network of Protected Natural Areas of Cantabria. It is executed by the Cantabrian Rural Development Network and its partners, the Local Action Groups, with funding from the General Directorate of Biodiversity, Environment and Climate Change of the Ministry of Rural Development, Fisheries, Food and Environment of the Government of Cantabria. These organizations collaborate in promoting the revitalization of the Public Use of the Network of Protected Natural Areas with the dual common objective of nature conservation and the economic and social development of the rural regions of Cantabria.

Throughout the year, each of the Interpretation Centers attached to this program proposes a wide variety of nature interpretation activities in protected areas, with proposals for all types of audiences and that are adapted to each season of the year. , offering the visitor the possibility of knowing all the faces of the prodigious Cantabrian nature. It also has self-guided routes and an interesting environmental education program for school children and groups. In addition, through this program, important environmental maintenance work is also carried out.

Culturea Cantabria is a project of the Cantabrian Rural Development Network that seeks to conserve and protect the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the Cantabrian peoples.

Wash houses, mills, bread bins, fulling mills, bowling alleys, trails, etc. They are elements around which a good part of the life of towns and rural regions revolved not long ago. Due to the loss of population, the aging of its inhabitants and the lack of use, many of these elements have been degraded (if not lost) and their state of conservation is not ideal.

The Culturea Cantabria project is responsible for inventorying and assessing the possible recovery of those rural elements of Cultural Heritage that are not included in the Heritage Registries and Inventories of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria.

For this, it has the support and funding of the General Directorate of Cultural Action of the Department of Universities, Equality, Culture and Sports of the Government of Cantabria.

European Union and Youth in Cantabria

The young people from Agrogen went to the the European Affairs Office of the Government of Cantabria, with the Europe Direct Cantabria team (Cantabria Europa), led by Consuelo Hospital, head of European Affairs.

One of the team’s technicians talked to the group about European mobility programmes for knowledge and employment exchange and also about the European Green Deal. The challenges of the war in Ukraine and its food crisis and how to maintain active European programmes for sustainable agriculture were a topic of discussion.

After this, the young people were fortunate to be able to talk online with Maria Gafo, Deputy Head of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (European Commission / EU Food & Farming), about the challenges facing rural Europe and how to tackle the problem of depopulation. After this, Paz Díaz Nieto, Director General of European Funds of the Government of Cantabria shared moments with the participants.

Thanks to the colleagues of the European Projects Office of the Government of Cantabria ( Oficina de Proyectos Europeos – OPE Cantabria) for the collaboration, the work and the presence in this day.

JR21 Cantabria, an Erasmus + project for youth associations in rural areas. The young people of JR21, Matías María and Marina Sainz de la Maza, together with the technicians of the European Projects Information Points of the Local Action Groups of Campoo Los Valles (Asociación Desarrollo Territorial Campoo Los Valles) and Saja-Nansa (Saja Nansa), BenHur Valdés and Ana Cuesta, shared a chat and moments with those of Agrogen.

Matías and Marína, through dynamics, identified with the participants of #Agrogen, the needs and problems of their territories as well as the possible solutions. After sharing this information, one of the conclusions focused on the similarities shared by rural territories in different European areas.

Exchange, networking, participative dynamics, dialogue and companionship.

More than productive and satisfactory relations.

Thank you all for your work.

The main strength of the ‘JR21 Cantabria’ project is the collaboration and networking of the five GAL (Local Action Groups), which group 73 of the 102 municipalities of the Autonomous Community. The initiative focuses on young people between 15 and 29 years old, who, according to data from the ICANE (Cantabrian Institute of Statistics), represent approximately 13% of the total population of Cantabria, although that percentage is reduced to 11.7% in the municipalities that make up the Local Action Groups.

Despite being an important part of the Cantabrian social fabric, it has been detected that in rural areas youth are not present in public decision-making processes at the level of other age groups. For this reason, the project was born with a clear vocation to listen to and accompany young rural people to give them the leading role they deserve in the development of the territory.

On the other hand, the Erasmus + program is the European Union program aimed at promoting the training and employment opportunities of young people, within the framework of the Europe 2020 Strategy. In the 2014-2020 period, its budget amounted to 3, 3 billion euros, which have enabled 940,000 learning experiences abroad and the financing of 25,000 projects and 111,000 organizations, among other figures.

Matías is part of the association La Bardal.

It is an association of young people who live in rural areas seeking the revitalization and regeneration of towns through participatory governance projects.

It has a headquarters-laboratory in the town of Ucieda, Cantabria. They develop residency programs and informal workshops on traditional trades. It houses a project of residences mixed with informal workshops on trades and traditions existing in the area. In the face of the climate emergency, they work on the resilience of the community through the uses and customs of these towns.

Convinced that rural regeneration comes with the involvement of the inhabitants of the towns in the decisions that affect them.

Following the practices proposed by the European Commission (EU, 2014), they work to pursue and achieve the necessary empowerment of local communities. This is to rethink decision frameworks towards a local development model led by the community.

Agro & Cultura

This is another of the social initiatives that Agrogen participants were able to learn about.

Agro & Cultura was created with the aim of making proposals and executing projects to promote and strengthen sustainable development and balance in rural areas, whose demographic, income and welfare levels need a boost. The sustainability of the rural environment is the future and the pillar of our society. For there to be a sustainable future in all aspects such as economic, social, environmental and even health, it is necessary that rural environments develop at the same rate as cities, always preserving their natural essence.

They have several projects:

ECOMUSEUM: Grandpa’s farm

“La Granja del Abuelo” is an ecotourism and training farm for practical teaching and the enjoyment of life in the countryside, especially aimed at children, young people and families, introducing them in a simple and attractive way to traditional agricultural and livestock tasks and to at the same time seeking knowledge and respect for the rural and natural environment, as well as its values.

AGRICULTURE TV

AGROCULTURA TV is a streaming platform whose main objective is to reconnect the land and its values with today’s society.