The Northeast of Scotland successfully hosted the 6th European Rural Parliament (ERP) from October 20th to 23rd, 2025. The historic assembly—the first to be hosted in Scotland—brought together over 400 delegates from 43 European countries to advance grassroots policy and cooperation under the theme ‘Strength from Opportunity: Rural Community Solutions to Global Challenges’.
Amplifying the Rural Voice
The biennial event, hosted by Scottish Rural Action, provided a critical platform for community leaders, entrepreneurs, academics, and policymakers from across Europe to exchange best practices on tackling some of the continent’s most pressing issues, from demographic decline to climate adaptation.
Held primarily in Inverurie, with extensive study trips throughout Aberdeenshire, Moray, and the Cairngorms National Park, the Parliament underscored the commitment of the Scottish rural movement to pan-European dialogue and action. The overarching message was clear: rural and island communities are not passive recipients of policy but active drivers of essential solutions to global challenges.
FLIARA Showcases Women as Changemakers
A key highlight of the proceedings was the session ‘Living together – Rural Women as Changemakers’, which provided a powerful forum to showcase the innovative contributions of women in agriculture and rural development.
On Tuesday 21st, Associate Professor Maura Farrell, the coordinator of the FLIARA project, presented the initiative’s extensive findings. Dr Farrell detailed the work with 200 women interviewed across Europe, emphatically highlighting their role as ‘Changemakers’ on farms and in communities. The presentation reinforced FLIARA’s central message that these female-led innovations are vital for achieving the goals of sustainability and resilience outlined in the EU’s Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas.
The session, which featured speakers including Monika Slaninova of the Slovak Rural Parliament, emphasised the critical need for policy frameworks to better recognise, support, and resource women’s often-overlooked work as innovators and entrepreneurs in the rural economy.
The Inverurie Declaration: A Call for Partnership
The Parliament concluded with the final shaping of the Declaration of Inverurie. This document, incorporating key messages from the assembly and the European Rural Youth Parliament, is the official output that will feed directly into European and national policy bodies, including the Rural Pact and EU institutions.
While the full declaration is forthcoming, the closing statement powerfully captured the assembly’s spirit of self-belief and call for action:
“We, the people of rural areas, hold the keys to the solutions Europe needs. We are capable. We are strong communities. We create essential solutions for life together, on the ground. We are, and we have what keeps Europe competitive, in solidarity and resilient. We call for recognition, support and genuine partnership, not barriers that slow down the change we are already driving. We are young, we are old. We are one and must be bold. Learning from the past, building for the future, we pass it on. We are one; hear our song.”
This core message solidifies the ERP’s push for genuine partnership and the dismantling of barriers to grassroots change, aligning perfectly with the FLIARA project’s mission to ensure female-led innovation is at the heart of Europe’s sustainable rural future.