EEDA - Rural proofing

Rural proofing

Supporting people > Economic Participation > Rural proofing

Rural proofing

'Rural proofing' is a phrase used to describe a process of checking the effect that policies and individual projects could have on rural communities.

It ensures that the particular needs of people in rural areas are not overlooked and that policies or projects do not have any unintended negative outcomes for rural communities.

To promote the use of rural proofing, EEDA has published a short guide to rural proofing in economic development to make it easier for organisations to assess their approach to rural needs at three levels: organisational infrastructure, strategic priority setting and individual interventions. It has also developed a step by step evaluation tool for rural proofing of individual projects. This tool can be downloaded as a Word template below and will shortly be converted into an easy to use online form.