Empowering Rural Communities to Act for a Just and Sustainable Transition of Rural Areas in Europe (RURACTIVE)

The new research project RURACTIVE (Empowering rural communities to act for change) aims to develop and introduce innovative approaches for a sustainable and just transition in support of the European efforts as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

RURACTIVE will work closely with the 12 pilot areas, called Dynamos, to establish local Multi-Actor Rural Innovation Ecosystems. To ensure their sustainability, the project will place great emphasis on addressing and strengthening multilevel governance, training and capacity development, place-based progress and inclusive participatory processes looking also at more vulnerable groups such as older adults, people with disability, migrants and refugees. Women-led innovation will also be boosted and gender issues in marginalised areas will be considered and addressed throughout the project. Digital connectivity and learning are considered key enablers for the diversification of economic activities and smart solutions. Therefore, providing digital skills training and resources to rural communities is at the core of the project.

Work packages:

WP1 - Project coordination and management
WP2 - Conceptual and operational framework for rural community-led development
WP3 - Upgraded learning, capacity building and knowledge transfer approaches for smart rural communities
WP4 - Co-development of solutions in rural innovation ecosystems for inclusive community-led development
WP5 - Smart and community-led solutions implementation, monitoring and evaluation
WP6 - RURACTIVE Digital ecosystem & hub for rural innovation
WP7 - Innovation management: communication, dissemination, exploitation and networking

Role of the University of Oulu:

The research group is leading the Dynamo 1. Northern Ostrobothnia which focuses on Iijoki river basin.

More information at https://www.ruractive.eu/