• The European Network for Rural Development (ENRD) announced the winners last night in a live virtual gala.
• In the Online Popular Vote category, the Spanish project Ecopionet has won a silver medal.

The European Network for Rural Development shortlisted three Spanish projects from among the six submitted by the National Rural Network. The fifteen finalists competed in an online vote —in the Online Popular Vote category—in which the public in all EU Member States participated.

In this category, the Spanish project Ecopionet came in second with a total of 1,025 votes . The results of the popular vote were as follows:

Total of 6782 votes:

- Černelič Biodynamic (Slovenia): 1089 votes
- ECOPIONET (Spain): 1025 votes
- AARBEITRAYVELD (Belgium): 947 votes

2020 Winners

Finally, following the online popular vote that concluded yesterday, June 25th, at 4:00 PM, the winners were, by category:

• Bioeconomy: BRICKZ

In the bioeconomy category, the winning project was Brickz, from the Netherlands, a research project to transform organic waste into fertilizer blocks for planting trees to improve soil quality.

• Adaptation to climate change: EKOFARMA P. MARADA

Petra Marada's eco-farm in the Czech Republic won the award for best adaptation to climate change. The farm is located in an area of Moravia severely affected by intensive agriculture, and over the years, good practices have restored the ecosystem and improved soil quality.

• Climate change mitigation: FUMOBIL

The climate change mitigation award goes to Fumobil, a public transport project developed in a rural region of western Austria using eco-friendly, smart buses.

• Popular vote: ČERNELIČ BIODYNAMIC FARM

The popular vote chose the biodynamic farm Cernelic, located in Slovenia, which practices crop rotation and composting bovine manure.

Spanish finalists

A) In the “Adaptation to Climate Change” category, two Spanish projects were selected:

• Hedge Operational Group - Multifunctional hedges for agriculture and biodiversity in the Region of Murcia:

The project involves the design, implementation, and monitoring of multifunctional equipment in agricultural hedgerows to develop sustainable, low-impact agriculture. By planting perennial vegetation in these hedgerows, the agricultural systems capture more CO2, contributing to climate change mitigation.

• ECOPIONET - Network of Ecological Pioneers:

Ecopionet works on a knowledge-sharing network in the field of organic dryland agriculture , extending from the scientific field to the farmers themselves to improve their knowledge of new technologies, land management, and marketing. This allows farmers to increase the profitability of their crops while promoting ecological practices for environmental conservation.

B) And in the category of “Climate Change Mitigation” the selected project was:

• ENFOCC - Energy, Forests and Climate Change:

Through the transfer of knowledge related to energy, forestry, and climate, the project aims to contribute to sustainable forest management and improve capacities to mitigate and adapt to climate change in rural areas. To this end, the project promotes the construction of public biomass boilers in rural municipalities and the management of various energy accounting tools.

In the first edition of the Rural Inspiration Awards in 2019, the Spanish initiative Agroberry won the award for improving the competitiveness of rural areas.