Inaugural Conference

Name: Marion Eckardt

Affiliation: ELARD Knowledge Hub

Brief biographical notes

Marion Eckardt is a rural development leader with a strong European profile, shaped through more than a decade of engagement in ELARD, the European LEADER Association for Rural Development. She has served as both President and Vice President of the organisation, working to strengthen the voice of rural communities in EU policy and to foster collaboration across 31 countries.

Marion Eckardt currently leads the ELARD Knowledge Hub, an initiative she founded to connect practitioners with international research, innovation and policy processes. Her work focuses on building bridges between local experience and European decision-making, and on promoting inclusive, resilient rural futures.

She holds a Diplom in Geography from Humboldt University of Berlin, where she specialised in regional development, economic geography and rural–urban dynamics. Marion Eckardt is based in Sweden where she also operates as manager of the Local Action Group in Halland. She continues to contribute to European rural policy and cooperation through advisory and network roles.

Abstract and title

Title:

From Practice to Policy: A Practitioner’s Journey Through the Development of Rural Europe

Abstract:

What does rural Europe look like when viewed from lived experience rather than policy documents? This presentation reflects on over twenty years of practice in rural development, combining local engagement in rural Sweden with long-term involvement in European advocacy and decision-making.

Starting from the speaker’s institutional journey and the organisations she has helped to build, the talk examines how rural development policies are translated—or lost—on the ground. It questions whether prevailing policy buzzwords truly resonate with rural communities and explores the challenges of bridging the languages of European institutions, academia, and rural citizens.

Drawing on ELARD’s advocacy work and participation in Horizon projects through the ELARD Knowledge Hub, the presentation highlights representative projects, success stories, and their broader impacts across Europe. It also addresses the structural and territorial challenges facing rural areas and the strategies needed to respond to Europe’s diversity.

The session concludes with reflections on the future of rural Europe and the importance of sustained collaboration between practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers in building resilient and inclusive rural territories.

Keywords:

Rural development; Territorial cohesion; European rural policy; Practitioner knowledge; Knowledge Exchange