Rural calls and funds are one of the main sources of resources and planning for our local organisations: a refresher to learn about them and to read up on them
Rural funds: a large and diverse world
As explained in the introductory section of our Handbook, the financing of EU programs, Structural Funds and rural funds each absorb a similar share of the EU budget. By “rural funds” we mean the two funds that refer to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): the EAGF(European Agricultural Guarantee Fund), which finances income and agricultural market support measures, and the EAFRD(European Agricultural Rural Development Fund), which finances rural development interventions.
As explained in the dedicated section of our Guide, the areas of application of these funds are very broad. To give just a few examples, these funds finance measures to support young farmers, for animal welfare, for tree crops, for pollinators, for beekeeping, and specific measures for various sectors; and again, measures for the preservation of natural resources, ecosystems, soils and water, biodiversity, youth activities, and development in mountainous or naturally constrained areas.
These are therefore substantial opportunities-no less significant than those offered by Structural Funds or community programs, and of potential interest to anyone with activities or interests related, in a broad sense, to local organisations.
Rural Fund calls, region by region
The use of Rural Funds in Italy is regulated at the national level by a CAP Strategic Plan (SPP), and is further detailed at the regional level by special Rural Development Complements (CSRs).A reference point for information, news and documentation on the subject is the National Rural Network website.
The current CAP and Rural Funds programming was launched in 2023, after two years of transitional arrangements. Our Guide provides information, insights and in-depth links here and here, as well as dedicated articles and analytical sheets with CSR allocations for each Region.
We are now providing one more tool to delve deeper into the opportunities offered by Rural Funds: a direct link to Rural Fund calls in each Italian Region. Starting with the next updates, our Calls for Projects Portal will also include opportunities funded by the Rural Development Complements (CSRs) in the Italian Regions.
We provide below, in preview, the direct link to the rural calls in the different Regions and Autonomous Provinces. The same links are available within our analytical fact sheets devoted to CSRs.
Abruzzo | Basilicata | Calabria | Campania | Emilia-Romagna | Friuli-Venezia Giulia (*) | Lazio (*) | Liguria | Lombardy | Marche | Molise | PA Bolzano | PA Trento | Piedmont (*) | Puglia | Apulia Sardinia | Sicily | Tuscany | Umbria (*) | Valle D’Aosta (*) | Veneto
(*) In some Regions, calls funded by Rural Funds are collected in a common portal, together with calls funded by Structural Funds. For these Regions, “CAP,” “CSR,” or “EAFRD” (depending on the wording used by the portal) should be selected as the source of funds.
Rural Fund calls: the opportunities
As further anticipation, we provide below some examples of the areas covered by the calls open at this time under the Rural Funds, in the different Italian regions. As an indication and not exhaustive:
wine sector | tree crops | afforestation | pastures and meadows | agrotourism | beekeeping | biodiversity | wetlands and natural areas | coexistence with wildlife | water resources | mitigation of natural hazards | investment and marketing of agricultural products | competitiveness and diversification of agricultural activities | mountain areas | support for young farmers
In future updates on upcoming calls we will provide more detailed information and give visibility to these calls in our dedicated portal.
