Empowering rural communities to advocate for a just and sustainable transition in rural areas across Europe
Around one third of EU citizens (two thirds in Austria) live in rural regions, but GDP per capita there is below average. The inequalities between urban and rural communities in demographic, economic and social terms are the subject of scientific projects and political programs. It is necessary to enable rural areas to compensate for disadvantages and to make greater use of potential with innovative solutions (green and digital transformation). The Horizon Europe project RURACTIVE aims to develop scientific principles and methods to support the development of rural communities and to implement these in the dynamos (pilot regions).
Objective
RURACTIVE aims to promote equitable and sustainable change in rural areas by developing and testing smart, community-led, customised, place-based and inclusive solutions within local Multi-Actor Rural Innovation Ecosystems in 12 dynamos. RURACTIVE aims to unleash the innovation potential of rural communities by addressing six integrated drivers for rural development: multimodal mobility, energy transition, agri-food and agroecology, culture and cultural innovation, health and well-being, and nature-based and cultural tourism. Transversal topics such as climate protection and adaptation, biodiversity, social justice and integration are integrated.
RURACTIVE aims to make available existing knowledge on smart solutions, address different forms of innovation and strengthen the capacities and capabilities of rural communities. The ultimate goal is to enable rural community stakeholders and policy makers to develop better strategies, initiatives and policies that promote the transition to sustainable development of rural communities by improving the understanding of the different rural functions, characteristics and future scenarios of rural regions, their potentials and challenges.
Over the four project years, the BAB acts as an interface between the scientific work and specifications of the university project partners and their implementation in the Austrian example region of southern Burgenland (the Austrian project partner is the Burgenland Economic Agency/WAB). The main topics in southern Burgenland are mobility, nature and cultural tourism, food production and agroecology as well as culture and cultural innovations.
Status of the work
In the RURACTIVE project, place-based solutions were developed in the individual Dynamos in 2025. The following solutions were developed in the South Burgenland Dynamo: (i) needs-based sustainable Green Food Cruiser, (ii) corporate engagement concept for environmental protection and nature conservation, (iii) nature conservation programme for schools, and (iv) sustainable grassland management through small-scale biogas plants. The implementation of the solutions is specified in the Local Action Plan and will continue until the end of the project. In addition, the Heritage Lens South Burgenland project was selected through the RURACTIVE open call and is being implemented by an external project sponsor. In the course of 2025, three local workshops were held to develop the solutions, and a launch event was held to present the Local Action Plan of the South Burgenland Dynamo. BAB is involved in all work packages. In addition to a consortium meeting in Zagreb, Dynamo Südburgenland organised a peer-to-peer exchange on the topics of renewable energy, multimodal mobility and sustainable tourism. The project team also took part in the monthly online Dynamo meetings and other online meetings of the various work packages.
Planned work 2026
In 2026, numerous working meetings will be held regarding the implementation of the solutions (WP5). In addition, work is planned in WP6 (Digital Ecosystems and Hub for Rural Innovation) and WP7 (Innovation Management). A consortium meeting will take place in Italy in spring 2026 and further peer-to-peer meetings will be organised. In addition, tasks will be carried out on an ongoing basis in the individual work packages by BAB.
Schedule
Project start: 03/2023
Project end: 12/2027
RURACTIVE _ Project video is out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10SIfKdrIxc
