Declaration 1. The Croatian rural Parliament

 Declaration

The inhabitants of rural areas and other rural development stakeholders gathered at the first Croatian rural parliament in Beli Manastir 16.0-18. April 2015. Decision-makers at European, national and regional levels:

Considering the problems facing Croatia's rural areas:

• Depopulation, and in particular the flow of young populations,
• Uneven development and continuous developmental lag of the rural area,
• Increasing difference in quality of life between rural and urban/urbanised areas,
• of agricultural land and fragmented agricultural property,
• Poorly used, ignored and neglected other development resources of the rural area,

We are committed to the changes and suggest the following:

• Cross-sectoral cooperation and partnership should be given a greater role in decision-making processes at local and regional level,
• In addressing rural development, an integral approach should be applied at all levels taking into account the diversity of rural areas of Croatia,
• Developing the capacity of rural development stakeholders at the local level to actively engage in the processes of designing and implementing local development plans.