The final conference of the IN SITU project took place from 11 to 13 May 2026 in Valmiera, Latvia. Approaches to rural development were discussed under the conference theme “Culture Matters Here. Cultivating Creative Place-based Innovation in Non-urban Communities”. Referring to concrete case studies from the arts and culture sector, potentials, experiences and insights regarding the revitalisation of villages in various regions of Europe were demonstrated (see IN SITU conference guide book).
Die Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research (BAB) contributed a presentation on “Exploring contemporary agricultural art initiatives in Austria”. A key finding of the study was that agricultural art initiatives contribute to local supply with products and services (food, cultural landscape, cultural activities, social interaction, etc.) and thus to the revitalisation of (even remote) rural areas. To this end, the available agricultural infrastructure is utilised in a variety of ways. More detailed results can be found in BAB Report 003 „KUNSTdünger – Potentials of agricultural art initiatives in rural regions”.
