Objective
Building on an improved analytical understanding of the "functions" of rural areas and the processes for achieving sustainable and resilient spatial development, this project will contribute to an area-specific examination of effective implementation examples. A knowledge-based participation strategy of local actors and decision-makers in 14 European pilot regions will be developed to increase the impact orientation of existing (or future) support programs. In this context, Living Labs should enable an improved understanding of the different characteristics of rural regions and contribute to the planning and collection of relevant data structures and information needs.
Status of the project and work 2025
As is usual in Horizon Europe projects, a series of deliverables and milestones are agreed throughout the entire project, which summarise the project results and make them accessible (see https://rustik-he.eu/). In line with the project schedule, the data experiment in the pilot region Nockregion-Oberkärnten, which focuses on the importance and visibility of small rural businesses, was carried out in 2024. In addition to analysing statistical data, a mapping of businesses in all municipalities of the Nock region was carried out and a survey on the importance of small rural businesses at local level was launched. The results of the data experiment will be finalised in 2025. Furthermore, the year 2025 is dedicated in particular to the work in WP5, which deals with the consolidation and synthesis of the results of the Living Labs and analyses the possibilities and conditions of rural change processes in the context of political measures (policies) and governance structures.
In addition to numerous online meetings, several on-site meetings of the consortium are planned to ensure good cooperation and coordination and to present the existing results to an interested audience.
Timetable
Project start: 09/2022
Project end: 08/2026
