E C O V A S T

European Council for the Village and Small Town is a pioneering civil society organization in the field of rural development, founded in 1984 with the aim of advocating for development and preserving the identity of rural communities and small towns across Europe.

ECOVAST is:

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a campaigning organisation, advocating for the well-being of the people and the heritage of rural Europe;

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a networking organisation, which seeks to support, and to encourage cooperation between its members as they pursue their activities in rural areas.

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We offer services at international and national level either as an international non-profit organisation or through our national sections

HOW WE WORK

Campaigning

As a campaigning organisation, ECOVAST seeks to express the concerns of its members throughout Europe to policy-makers, official bodies and others; and to make their views felt in the debates which affect the future of rural Europe.

International working groups

According to recognised needs, we have experience of setting specific International Working Groups. These groups exchange experience, work on a specific topics and encourage informal contact between their members.

Technical missions

At the request of our members, or of governments and other organisations in different countries, we have been able to send experts from within the ECOVAST network to a number of countries to advise on aspects of rural development, rural tourism, heritage protection and other issues.

Activities & events

ECOVAST has had a number of active international working groups that focused on topics important for development of rural communities and developed relevant documents.
We have taken part in major practical projects, such as the Heritage Trails project and the ASSET project (Action to Strengthen Small European Towns).
ECOVAST organises Annual General Assemblies, with accompanying events (symposia, conferences, study tours etc). These are held each time in a different country. The meetings were stopped during the 2020 pandemic, but we hope to continue the tradition in the future.

National sections

ECOVAST’s membership has grown rapidly, and has reached at certain points over 500 members in 20 European countries. Our members include individuals, academic bodies, government and non-government organisations, from local to international level. ECOVAST can thus act as bridge between decision-makers and those who are active at local level, between experts and practitioners. It operates mainly as a network, to assist mutual support among its membership in pursuit of their activity in rural areas. It has national sections in several European countries. These provide a focus for exchange and activity in each country, to benefit its rural communities and rural heritage.

short info about ecovast in other languages

Publications

The “Strategy for Rural Europe”, produced by ECOVAST Working Group in 1994, was one of the first documents related to rural development in Europe. It was addressed to all policy-makers and practitioners at European, national, regional and local level and has been widely circulated to decision-makers and interested groups throughout Europe.


In more than four decades of its work ECOVAST has continously produced various policy statements, guides to good practices, handbooks and other publications. Our national sections publish local documents relevant in their local context and provide translations of our policy documents in local languages.

Latest Articles

  • History of ECOVAST 1984 – 2019

    History of ECOVAST 1984 – 2019

    We are excited to announce the publication of an extensive book HISTORY OF ECOVAST – A RECORD OF ACTIVITIES FROM 1984 TO 2019 detailing the history of ECOVAST, covering the period from its foundation in 1984 to 2019. This meticulously crafted book offers an in-depth look into the organization’s journey,…

  • New website

    New website

    We are proud to present the new website of ECOVAST! The old one, although packed with content, was seriously outdated in terms of its design and technology. It hadn’t been updated with fresh content in a long time, so it just didn’t meet the communication needs of today. But now,…

  • ASSET project

    ASSET project

    ASSET – Action to Strengthen Small European Towns Introduction The project was initiated at an ECOVAST Conference in Retz, Austria in November 2005. Since then the position of Small Towns in European policy has been highlighted at groupings of International NGOs of the Council of Europe, and at conferences and…