Rural challenges

Rural areas face some important challenges in terms of their social and economic sustainability—particularly coastal areas, remote rural communities, and former coalfield communities. We need to support vibrant rural economies to make sure we’re retaining balanced and working communities.

There are also some significant changes, such as climate change and new technology, which affect (and are affected by) economic activity in our rural areas. These changes need to be managed well if we are to maximise the opportunities they provide.

We know that our region’s businesses have the potential to contribute more to the economy of Yorkshire & Humber than they currently do, and we want to provide them with the support they need to meet that potential. We can also help to:

• Introduce and encourage new technologies which break down geographic boundaries
• Develop the knowledge-based economy in our region
• Encourage potential entrepreneurs and inward investment into Yorkshire & Humber.

As part of our role, we directly invest money into rural areas which is allocated to our region by the EU and the UK government, via the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). In this section, you can find out how rural businesses can benefit from this funding.

Yorkshire & Humber Rural Affairs Forum

The Yorkshire and The Humber Rural Affairs Forum is a group made up of the region’s rural stakeholders who aim to represent the views and concerns of the rural ‘customer’, i.e. people affected by policies and services in rural areas. The Forum provides feedback to authorities and organisations responsible for policy and service delivery and acts as a sounding board for new ideas.

The Yorkshire & Humber Rural Affairs Forum currently has around 70 organisations representing economic, environmental and social aspects of our region. The RAF is a partnership funded by Defra, Yorkshire Water and Yorkshire Forward.

For more informatuion click here.