Our Rural Future: Ireland is hosting major OECD International Rural Development Conference this week

The Government of Ireland is this week (September 28th to 30th) hosting the 13th OECD Rural Development Conference 2022 on the theme of Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places.

The Conference has brought together more than 400 delegates including Ministers, policy-makers and practitioners from right across the OECD region to Ireland to consider the theme of ‘Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places’.

It is the first time that Ireland has hosted such a conference and follows on from the publication of the Government’s rural development policy, Our Rural Future.

As OECD Member States contend with multiple policy challenges, Ireland is welcoming the in-person participation of Ministers, senior policy makers and civil society for a wide ranging discussion on the future of rural places.

Heather Humphreys, Minister for Rural and Community Development, gave the opening address for the Conference.

Read Minister Heather Humphrey's Opening address here.

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin was in attendance on Day 2 and gave the keynote address.

Read the Taoiseach Micheál Martin's address to OECD Conference here.

Our Rural Future

Our Rural Future is the whole-of-government policy for rural Ireland for the period 2021-2025. It represents a new milestone in the approach to rural development policy for Ireland and adopts a more strategic, ambitious and holistic approach to investing in and maximising opportunities for rural areas.

The policy’s objectives will be achieved through the delivery of more than 150 commitments to be implemented across a range of government departments and agencies.

OECD

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organisation with 38 Member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

It is a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.

OECD Rural Conference

The OECD Rural Conference is a high-profile international policy and political forum for OECD Member countries to discuss rural development in a holistic manner, with each conference having a specific thematic focus. The OECD has organised 12 conferences thus far, most recently in Korea in 2019 which focused on Rural Well-being.

The Conferences typically attracts in the region of 300 delegates with target participants being Ministers and other senior policy-makers from OECD member and partner countries, as well as practitioners from national, regional and local levels, international experts and representatives from the private sector and from civil society.