About us
What is RISE?
The Rural Investment Support for Europe RISE Foundation is a unique, independent, public-utility, philanthropic foundation for the promotion of rural conservation and renewal, the advancement of private property and the cooperation between private landowners and rural communities in Europe and beyond.
HOW WAS RISE BORN?
Keen to promote rural development and improve the rural environment, and worried about the current context and the future prospects of many rural areas, which are suffering from continued depopulation and dwindling public support, former Agricultural Commissioner Franz Fischler and his former Chief of Staff Corrado Pirzio-Biroli set up the Rural Investment Support for Europe Foundation -abbreviated as "RISE" - with the support of the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) and the Friends of the Countryside (FCS). Together, they all endorsed the International Charter for Rural Conservation and Renewal (“The Rural Charter”), drafted by Mr Pirzio-Biroli. The primary aim of this charter is to support initiatives undertaken and directed by private investors aimed at preserving and enhancing the countryside and the living conditions of the rural communities.
RISE was thus created to implement the goals laid down in the Rural Charter. It is a non-profit Public Utility Foundation established by notary deed on 10 July, 2006 (pursuant to Title II of the Belgian law of 27 June 1921). Articles of Incorporation (PDF)
WHY THIS INITIATIVE?
The overexploitation of natural resources, urbanization and globalization constitute a very serious threat to food and environmental security, and to the physical integrity of the countryside, and its way of life. This situation is aggravated by two factors: firstly, public budgets are under stress and tend to neglect rural development, and secondly, rural actors are increasingly marginalised from the public decision-making process. Rural depopulation and decline cannot be reversed without more private initiatives, appropriate market mechanisms and incentives, and adequate financing.
What We Do?
RISE activities consist in three main strands:
For more detailed information, see the presentation on RISE.
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