Agricultural and Rural Inspiration Awards - ARIA 2023: meet the winners!
- CAP Implementation
- Agricultural Productivity
- CAP Strategic Plans
- Climate and Climate Change
- Communication
- Environment
- Food Supply Chain
- Green Deal Targets
- Jobs, Growth and Equality in Rural Areas
- Long-term Vision for Rural Areas
- Networking
- Rural Development
- Social Inclusion
The Agricultural and Rural Inspiration Awards (ARIA) 2023 celebrated CAP-funded projects that are boosting skills for agriculture and rural areas. Meet the winners and learn all about the finalists!
The ARIA 2023 celebrated good practice projects co-funded by the CAP. We received 92 entries from 20 Member States under the competition's four thematic categories. Projects were collected and submitted by National CAP Networks. The EU CAP Network’s experts shortlisted 24 projects (six per category) and jury selected four winners, while a Popular Vote has been open throughout the month of November, allowing the public to vote for their favourite shortlisted project. Over 13 000 votes were collected through the Popular Vote platform.
During the ARIA Ceremony, held at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Brussels on 4 December 2023, European Commission representative awarded the winners of the ARIA 2023 competition:
- Environmental protection: The landscape farm, Portugal
- Socio-economic fabric of rural areas: Regional cooperation project + Business + Employment, Spain
- Rural stakeholders skills: Local energy for farmers and citizens, Belgium
- Smart and competitive agriculture: KoroKausi, Finland
- Popular Vote: Urban Farm Doetinchem, the Netherlands
In addition, two projects were highly commended by the jury:
- Environmental protection: Farming for Nature, Austria
- Socio-economic fabric of rural areas: Food Act 13, Belgium
The Ceremony was livestreamed and the recording is available on the ARIA page of the EU CAP Network website, where you can also learn more about the winners and all the finalist projects.
All 24 finalists will also be included in the next EU CAP Network Projects Brochure, to be published in early 2024.
For more information, follow #ARIAwards23 on Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Background information
ARIA 2023 was designed to expand on the successes of the ENRD’s Rural Inspiration Awards and focused on the European Year of Skills. The awards were open to good practice projects supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF). Projects also promote the Long-term Vision for Rural Areas and the Rural Pact.
Identifying and sharing good practices on how the CAP is implemented at project level offers opportunities to inspire peer learning, facilitate knowledge transfer, encourage the replication of benefits, and build capacity between CAP stakeholders. These are among the factors driving the EU CAP Network’s new Agricultural and Rural Inspiration Awards.