A local community in Co. Kilkenny has been crowned the winner of the Rural Inspiration Awards (RIA) for building its own fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband network, the European Commission has announced today (Thursday, October 6).
The community of Piltown and Fiddown was named the winner of the digital futures category for its Broadband 4 Our Community project that builds and sets up the infrastructure needed for fibre broadband.
People in the community and the voluntary not-for-profit Broadband 4 Our Community (B4OC) group connected 750 homes and businesses in a 3.4 km2 area to fast broadband.
Four projects were chosen by the jury out of 111 entries received from 24 EU member states for the thematic categories, including green futures; digital futures; resilient futures; and socially inclusive and innovative futures.
The remaining awards were presented to Estonian company Woola for its packing materials made from waste wool; Greek project red cow breed which established pedigree certification; and the centre for social inclusion in Romania.
The ceremony of the RIA under ‘The Future is Youth’ theme took place at an event in Brussels today where the European Commission launched the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Network.
EU CAP Network
The European Network for Rural Development, including its evaluation part, and the Agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI) have merged to the become the EU CAP Network.
The main objective of the new network is to optimise the flow of information about agriculture and rural policy within the EU, and to support the implementation and evaluation of the CAP Strategic Plans, while boosting the innovation of the sector.
All interested stakeholders and parties will be included in the network, and therefore the exchange of information and good practices will be more efficient. Cooperation and innovation will also be enhanced across rural Europe, the commission said.
“This newly launched forum is open to everyone with an interest in and commitment to sustainable agriculture, forestry and rural development across the [EU] – from farmers and evaluators to local action groups and national CAP networks.
“Among other activities, the EU CAP Network will organise thematic group meetings and capacity building workshops, as well as larger seminars for a broad audience,” the commission said.
Facts and figures on CAP programming and implementation will be provided through the EU CAP network, which will also distribute a monthly newsletter with relevant information about the CAP.