Facilitating economic development that is smart, sustainable and inclusive
Renewable energy communities
Purpose: Contribute towards the sustainable development of rural communities by reducing the environmental impact, energy costs and promoting social cohesion by building a renewable energy community that is a shared asset.
Comprises the following key objectives:
Reduce energy bills and give rural consumers greater choice
Contribute towards green targets by creating new opportunities to build small scale distributed renewable energy projects
Empower rural communities to participate in the energy sector and community cohesion through novel REC funding models
Professional tourism
Purpose: Attract professional tourists by developing an interchange programme between the rural community and the private sector.
The initiative aims to achieve business objectives via a rural development programme by:
Increasing the visibility of the rural community and promoting the economic development of the local area through projects relevant to both the private sector organisations and the rural community.
Organise planning meetings, kick-off or team building activities.
Early implementation of the concept of the digital nomad.
Sustainable and intelligent food system
Purpose: Identify sustainable and scalable food production opportunities, taking advantage of new technologies and other innovations in order to optimise resources. It will:
Explore local and regional capabilities, in particular:
Production potential.
Institutional/regulatory context.
Develop a strategy to enhance productive capability that is respectful of the environment and culture/heritage.
Natural and cultural heritage
Purpose: Promote sustainable tourism and rural heritage in a way that is respectful of the environment, local culture and traditions.
Comprises a number of initial actions:
Identifying and cataloguing local natural and cultural heritage sites.
Reconstruction of historical landmark using traditional crafts and skills. Will involve training and practical experience through the actual reconstruction of a specific landmark. It will also raise awareness of the role of master craftsperson as inspiration towards a sustainable and self-sufficient future.
Promote rural tourism as a holistic experience and an attractive alternative to urban tourism.
Improve access and quality of social, educational and recreational services and activities
Sport and leisure activities
Purpose: Increase the availability of sport and leisure activities and contribute towards the integration and socialisation of the community by encouraging alternative recreational activities and healthy practices.
We are considering the following activities:
Board games to promote socialising between children and adults, taking advantage of the great variety that exists today.
Reading and the dissemination of literature among children and adults, in a creative, original and interactive way.
Live role-playing games, which encourage the socialising among the residents, visitors and greater understanding of the local heritage and traditions.
Outdoor activities that encourage knowledge of and respect for nature.
This type of one-off or occasional activities will also support the delivery of the longer-term strategy as they help to integrate the community, identify needs and areas of common interest.
Access to housing strategy
Purpose: Facilitate access to decent and affordable housing and sustainable use of land in rural communities.
The strategy will be developed in three stages:
Research phase including field work to understand current legislation at the national, regional and local levels as well as available tools to support territorial planning.
Development of recommendations.
Consultation with the community and other stakeholders.
Digital tech-hub
Purpose: Develop a digital hub to facilitate remote studying and working and also as a tool for innovation and collaboration using new technologies and ways of working.
Aims to achieve the following key objectives:
Communication and dissemination of progress of the ReViEVAL project with the community including residents and the Administration.
Improve productivity and efficiency of the project and support the work of the Administration.
Facilitate take up of digital tools and services e.g. telemedicine, remote learning, digital nomads.
Education and training
Purpose: Promote access to high quality education using digital technologies.
According to the OECD, education has been identified as a key factor for increasing productivity particularly among the less developed areas.
New technologies provide new opportunities to improve access to training and other forms of education and making rural areas more attractive places to live.
Access to quality healthcare
Purpose: Pilot new technologies to help improve access and quality of healtchare in rural areas.
Latest advances in Artificial Intelligence and digital infrastructure have the potential to reduce inequalities of access and attract new residents to rural communities.
Sustainability and scalabilitY of the project
Developing robust and replicable methodologies
Purpose: Develop and implement robust methods and tools that could be used systematically to analyse and facilitate rural development.
We will collaborate and partner with academic institutions, planning, documenting and reflecting on the methods and actions used.
We propose to use a dynamic and participatory action research approach to continually evaluate, reflect and learn.
Monitoring and evaluation
Purpose: Design and implement tools to monitor and evaluate change and impact to optimise resources and support continuous development.
We will work with academic institutions and multidisciplinary teams to facilitate learning and disseminating the impact of our interventions.
Strategic communication to improve perceptions of the rural environment
Purpose: Use communication as a strategic tool to engage, increase the visibility of rural challenges, initiatives to address these challenges and show their remarkable potential.
The strategy will have two main components: internal (towards the rural community) and external (to attract new residents and develop strategic partnerships).
