Rural areas and agriculture are facing major economic, social and environmental challenges in relation to climate change, the loss of biodiversity and water supply (see Long-term Vision for EU Rural Areas, Rural Pact, EU Rural Action Plan). There are also socio-economic challenges such as low income, demographic changes and difficult access to services in rural areas. As a result, there is a need for improved innovative business and production models in rural areas that have a positive impact on the sustainability of the various economic sectors in rural areas. Technological, process and organisational innovation must be taken into account, as well as their economic, environmental and social impacts. The Horizon Europe project NEXRUR (Next Generation Sustainable Business Models and Monitoring for Rural Resilience and Innovation) with 22 partners from EU countries and 9 from China offers the opportunity to present a wide variety of approaches to innovative rural areas and to analyse their effects.
Objective
The main objective of NEXRUR is to explore the innovation dynamics and strategies for change in rural areas through international cooperation between EU countries and also China to enable farmers and their communities to develop, select and disseminate new or improved sustainable business models and to monitor their economic, social and environmental impacts, including resilience. The focus is on ‘Community Led Agricultural Business Models’. It is important to involve the relevant stakeholders, promote dialogue and cooperation, develop methods for analysis and indicators for monitoring and also promote the implementation and dissemination of innovative business models.
Planned procedure, realisation
Work on the project as a whole is divided into 6 work packages:
- Guiding Concepts and Tools for innovations and Community Led Businesses
- Research, Co-Innovation and Upscaling in an Innovation Network
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Monitoring and Verifying Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts
- Knowledge Transfer
- Dissemination, Exploitation
- Management
The BAB is involved in all work packages, will provide comments and information on the Austrian situation and also contribute experience from previous projects (LIVERUR, SIMRA), e.g. on the presentation of specific concepts for Community Led Businesses and on the monitoring indicators. However, the focus of the work will be on work packages 2 and 3. On the one hand with the analysis of an Austrian case study (FoodCoop dSpeis in Upper Austria, dspeis-andorf.at - our FoodCoop in Andorf) in close cooperation with the initiative, and on the other hand with work on the joint organisation of stakeholder engagement across all case studies.
The findings, strategies and policy recommendations will be published in an AOD final report. In addition, results and interim findings are also disseminated in any national or international seminars, presentations and specialist articles that accompany the project.
Work 2025
- Contributions, comments on work package 1 (theoretical foundations)
- Preparatory work and collection of information on the Austrian FoodCoop case study ‘DSpeis’
- Preparatory work, conceptualisation corresponding to in-depth involvement of stakeholders in the case studies for the overall project
Schedule
Project start: 01/2025
Project end: 12/2029