ARIA 2024: meet the winners!
- CAP Implementation
- CAP Strategic Plans
- Generational Renewal
- Agricultural Productivity
- Social Inclusion
- Climate and Climate Change
Discover the six winners of the Agricultural and Rural Inspiration Awards - ARIA2024, and celebrate outstanding CAP-funded projects that are truly making a difference for European rural areas!
On Wednesday, 4 December, the EU agricultural and rural development world gathered once again to celebrate the greenest, smartest, most socially inclusive, innovative, and resilient projects implemented at the local level thanks to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
The Agricultural and Rural Inspiration Awards – ARIA 2024 culminated in an exciting ceremony at the beautiful Théâtre du Vaudeville, which was attended by some 200 participants, including National Networks and the representatives of the 24 finalist projects. The ceremony was opened by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, for whom this was the first official event in his new role.
In a very festive atmosphere, the audience celebrated all the finalists and particularly the six winners:
- Category Smart & Competitive Agriculture: Iris: the true scent of Tuscany (Italy)
- Category Environmental Protection: Recycling Farm Plastics (Finland)
- Category Socio-Economic Fabric of Rural Areas: La petite conserverie/The little conserve factory (France)
- Category Rural Youth: Open farms, rural connections (Italy)
- Special Gender Equality Award: FRAU iDA – Space for women entrepreneurs (Austria)
- Popular Vote: Authentic Honey meets DNA Technology (Estonia)
In addition, several projects were highly commended by the Jury: Farm-to-face cosmetics (Croatia), La Junquera (Spain), The Galway Wool Co-op (Ireland), Food station (the Netherlands) and Mental well-being starts at school (Belgium).
"Through ARIA, we give recognition and draw attention to projects that can serve as good examples of how farmers and rural citizens can make a difference."
The EU CAP Network's stakeholders also deserved an award for their active engagement in the online campaign for the Popular Vote, which registered more than 14 000 votes. A big thanks to all those who cast their vote throughout the month of November!
The ARIA Awards are a landmark event of the EU CAP Network – almost a tradition, dating back to 2019, when the first edition of the RIA – Rural Inspiration Awards was organised by the ENRD (European Network for Rural Development).
The best traditions are those that remain in tune with their time, so this year's ARIA categories reflect the objectives of the CAP as well as the evolving priorities of its stakeholders. ARIA 2024 featured a new thematic category, rural youth, as well as a special award for initiatives that promote gender equality. Read more in our article about the special ARIA Gender Equality Awards.
Next steps
All the finalists of ARIA 2024 will be featured in the next editions of the EU CAP Network Projects Brochure. Keep an eye on our website, newsletter, and social media (@EUCAPNetwork) for updates – and while you wait, learn more about the finalists of the previous editions of ARIA in the respective Projects Brochures and discover all the inspiring CAP-funded projects collected in our good practice database.
