Work Package 9: Synthesis: Rural Development policy impact assessment – results and recommendations

The objectives of this work package are to provide a synthesis of the overall findings of this study. We will:

• clarify under which conditions which kinds or combinations of rural policies are most effective; in this context we will address the question of a balancing of different government levels regarding rural policy-making and implementation;
• help to better understand the contribution of rural development programmes to EU priorities;
• illustrate best practice in RD policy design, delivery, monitoring, impact assessment and evaluation;
• formulate recommendations for more effective approaches in RD policy monitoring, impact assessment and evaluation; in these recommendations we will differentiate between different administrative levels (region, Member States, European Union);
• explicitly address the question what kind of knowledge and innovation infrastructure is required to support the future needs of rural economies, including the natural resource based sectors;
• seek to feed project results into the development of the next generation of rural development policies, leading to more effective targeting of measures and use of resources