Building Stronger Rural Communities in a Changing Europe 

As Europe continues to experience significant shifts in population, our rural communities are evolving at an unprecedented pace. The arrival of displaced individuals and families is reshaping these regions, bringing both challenges and incredible opportunities for growth, innovation, and inclusion. The influx of diverse perspectives and ideas has the potential to transform rural areas into thriving ecosystems of creativity and collaboration. 

To harness this potential, we invite you to join us in a collaborative workshop focused on empowering, engaging, and embracing our rural communities in this new era. Together, we will explore innovative approaches to integrate new populations into existing structures, leverage biases I to create more inclusive communities, and design the rural regions of tomorrow. 

In our workshop, we will discuss: 

• Connecting New Programmes with Emerging Actors: Identifying and supporting initiatives that integrate newcomers into our communities, fostering collaboration and mutual growth. 

• Implementing Action Plans for Connected Regional Innovation Valleys: Developing strategies to enhance the connectivity and innovation potential of rural areas through the integration of diverse ideas and resources. 

• Learning from Mutual Support Schemes: Sharing best practices and insights from regional innovation programmes that have successfully adapted to demographic changes. 

As part of this consortium, we intend to link with established networks such as the Enterprise Europe Network and the European Digital Innovation Hubs. By connecting with these key players, we can ensure that our initiatives are supported by a robust infrastructure, enhancing our capacity to deliver impactful projects and access valuable resources. 

This workshop also aims to lay the groundwork for forming a consortium that will explore upcoming European Commission calls for proposals. By joining forces, we can position ourselves to take advantage of these funding opportunities and create projects that support the sustainable development of our rural communities. 

We look forward to your participation in this critical conversation as we shape the future of rural Europe together.