D1.8 Future Outlooks Methodology

 

The development of Future Outlooks is an important step in each of the 12 regional Foresight exercises of the POLIRURAL project. For our purposes, the exploration of future outlooks based on the use of scenarios, corresponds to the exploration of policy options to achieve specific goals, or address specific challenges that feature in the action plan, an essential output of the Foresight process. In particular, this work provides a laboratory in which to test the use of system dynamic modelling, as a way for comparing different policy options. Before delving into the methodology however, it is useful recall the overall goal of the project, how this will be achieved and what we have leaned since we started.

One of the goals of the POLIRURAL project is to explore the phenomenon of “new entrants” as a factor in the sustainable growth and development of rural economies. The approach taken is based on a series of 12 regional Foresight initiatives, in the EU and neighbourhood countries. The regional Foresight exercises are run as independent exercises. Each is driven by the specific needs of each region. In each case the process and sequence of events are based on a schedule determined by local conditions in collaboration with major stakeholders. The goal is that each of the 12 exercises will produce a Vision, Action Plan, and Roadmap that is:

• endorsed by major stakeholders in the economic and social life of the region, and

• adopted by major actors in regional administration, who will ensure the execution of the action plan and the realization of the vision, based on the timing laid out in the roadmap.

Each of these Foresight exercises is intended to provide a realistic environment in which to explore:

• concepts such as “new entrants” to the rural regional economies,

• related concepts such as “rural attractiveness,”

• the use of Text Mining as a productivity tool in the execution of regional Foresight, and

• the use of System Dynamic Modelling as a tool for stakeholder engagement and learning by diverse groups about the dynamics of complex socio-economic systems.

Read more at:

https://polirural.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/D1.8..pdf

BioRural Kick-off Meeting

  • The Green Growth Platform is proud to announce that the HorizonEurope project BioRural has been launched!
  • 19 partners from 14 different European countries met on September 08. and September 09. 2022 in Athens, Greece for the kick off.
  • The aim of the project is to accelerate the transfer of small scale bio-based solutions to European rural areas.

The main objective of BioRural is to create a pan-European Rural Bioeconomy Network under which stakeholders will cooperate to promote currently available small-scale bio-based solutions in rural areas. Such a framework will contribute in bridging the gap between available novel high-end bio-based solutions and the everyday life of rural European citizens by assessing the existing situation of the European rural Bioeconomy, capturing grassroots-level needs and ideas, promoting effective exchange of knowledge and information and investigating the business opportunities for regional development through bio-based solutions integration in rural Europe. This way, BioRural will develop a transition framework towards a sustainable, regenerative, inclusive and just circular Bioeconomy across all Europe at local and regional scale and support innovators to scale-up inclusive and small-scale bio-based solutions in rural areas.

BioRural aims to achieve this through a three-pillar intervention scheme. First, BioRural will provide a framework to increase knowledge for rural stakeholders by addressing information gaps, conducting knowledge exchange workshops, and the development of an BioRural Toolkit that makes research results widely accessible. Second, BioRural will create a wide network of stakeholders in a regional and pan-European level to interconnect actors that can boost circular Bioeconomy growth through the development of a European Rural Bioeconomy Network centred around 4 regional Rural Bioeconomy Platforms and Bioeconomy success stories supported by a series of capacity building actions. Third, BioRural will develop Business model blueprints for each of the 5 main Bioeconomy themes that support the entrepreneurial establishment and maturation of future innovative bio-based solutions for rural areas and also ensure the post-project sustainability of the Bioeconomy Network and the BioRural Toolkit.

PoliRural H2020 Project Newsletter 13 is now available

PoliRural H2020 Project Newsletter 13 is now available. Within the document you can find the latest information of the Project, including:

  • Follow-up on the PoliRural participation on the Rural Pact Conference
  • Information on PoliRural webinars as a learning support for rural stakeholders
  • Latest activities from several PoliRural pilots, including Segóbriga, Slovakia Region, Monaghan

The Rural Pact Conference took place in Brussels on 15 to 16 June 2022. 475 people took part in-person, joined by over 300 participants online. Participants included politicians, including EU MEPs, along with local authorities and social and economic stakeholders from EU, national, regional, and local levels of governance, of which 46% actually live in rural areas.

This conference is of great relevance for the PoliRural project. A basic goal of the project is to demonstrate the possibility of successfully implementing participative policy processes for rural areas, namely Regional Foresight, leading to action and not just reports. The action plans of the twelve participating regions have been aligned with the language and ambition of the LTVRA (Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas). Many of those action plans have already started to take shape. And many of them consists of actions and milestones which could be submitted as part of that region’s commitment to the LTVRA. In others as an important element of the overall Rural Pact. This is an ongoing process and I invite each of the regions taking part in the project to do this immediately by filling out the relevant form on the website of the Rural Pact, and indicating the overall nature of their commitment to:

– Amplify rural voices

– Networking and collaboration

– Acting for Rural Areas

Within the framework of the PoliRural Project, the twelve pilot regions have drawn up a Regional Action Plan as an important output of the Foresight process. The aim of these plans are proposing solutions to the needs identified in its territory, through a participatory co-creation exercise with the stakeholders of the area.

In June and July 2022, PoliRural organised a series of webinars with the intention of promoting key concepts and results to external stakeholders. These webinars serve as a capacity building resource that can be freely consulted by anyone anytime to learn about the PoliRural approach and how it was implemented in practice.

On 8th June 2022 took place the closing national conference of the Slovak pilot in the heart of the country, in Low Tatras mountainous region, under the title “Let’s unite ourselves for the rural areas – Vision for a more attractive rural areas”. Conclusions in Slovak are available here.

The Monaghan PoliRural pilot Foresight Action Plan aims to achieve Ireland’s highest county-proportion of non-traditional new entrants and young farmers in rural Monaghan by 2030, through locally orchestrated and implemented rural development policies and supports that actively encourage young people, women, and families to move to, or remain in the region.

Latvian Rural Forum initiated discussion as one of events during 8th Conversation Festival LAMPA, which brought together around 19 000 people in Cēsis city in Vidzeme. Discussion was also streamed online.

The rural areas becoming less and less populated – that was the narrative that has dominated Latvia for at least a couple of decades. Finding and buying property in the countryside at the same time has become a real challenge. According to the analyses conducted by Latvian Rural Forum within PoliRural, the unavailability of housing is one of the biggest obstacles faced by those people, who consider moving to the countryside.

For more info visit the link:  https://polirural.eu/newsletter/13/

Project Ploutos Newsletter No.3

 

The Project Ploutos Newsletter No.3 is out now!

Within the document you can find the latest information about the sustainable innovations pilots of the Ploutos project, including:

  • Precision Farming
  • Food Waste
  • Soil Passport
  • Who’s the Boss?

PLOUTOS Newsletter 3

The pilots are focused on innovation co-design, validation and assessment of the approaches implemented across the agri-food sector.

For more information about the Ploutos project, make sure you visit: https://ploutos-h2020.eu/

The entire Newsletter No.3 can be found HERE.

 

The development of Europe’s regions is based on thorough planning for the future: D6.2 Regional Action Plans

 

 

The report completed by PoliRural partners summarizes the results of the mission-oriented approach implementation in the pilot regions. It provides an insight on context and needs of pilot regions by outlining the issues of concern and context that create the basis for the regional visions and the purpose of the regional foresight process. The document provides information of policy challenges, intervention measures and KPIs that form the core of the Regional Action Plans.

Policy challenges and measures are analyzed and clustered by the four main strands of the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas:

– stronger rural areas,

– connected rural areas,

– resilient rural areas that foster well-being,

– prosperous rural areas.

Some of the conclusions are the following:

  • The majority of challenges identified by pilot regions are primarily related to the PROSPERITY of rural areas, particularly to the various reasons currently hindering the diversification of economic activities;
  • The absence or low quality of digital infrastructure, limited skills and abilities to use advantages of good broadband, and poorly digitalized traditional sectors of the economy are central issues hindering pilot regions from becoming better CONNECTED rural areas;
  • Pilot regions have identified just a few RESILIENCE-oriented challenges related to the ability to adapt to climate change, reducing the carbon footprint and nature protection;
  • The pilot regions see improved governance of their regions as one of the most important results of the foresight process;
  • The main precondition for digitalization and modernization of agriculture, industry and services is the availability and coverage of high-quality broadband and digital infrastructure in rural areas;
  • The role of digital connectivity and the transition of the traditional economy is seen as an essential element that may contribute to the diversification of traditional sectors of the rural economy concerning the digitization of the agricultural industry and digital capacity building in the rural areas.

You can find more info about the D6.2 Regional Action Plans on the following links:

https://bit.ly/3ubnGGG

https://bit.ly/3OybeZy

PoliRural Newsletter 12

 

PoliRural H2020 Project Newsletter 12 is now available. Within the document you can find the latest information of the Project, including:

The development of Europe’s regions is based on thorough planning for the future. Some of the conclusions are the following:
  • The majority of challenges identified by pilot regions are primarily related to the PROSPERITY of rural areas, particularly to the various reasons currently hindering the diversification of economic activities;
  • The absence or low quality of digital infrastructure, limited skills and abilities to use advantages of good broadband, and poorly digitalized traditional sectors of the economy are central issues hindering pilot regions from becoming better CONNECTED rural areas;
  • Pilot regions have identified just a few RESILIENCE-oriented challenges related to the ability to adapt to climate change, reducing the carbon footprint and nature protection;
  • The pilot regions see improved governance of their regions as one of the most important results of the foresight process;
  • The main precondition for digitalization and modernization of agriculture, industry and services is the availability and coverage of high-quality broadband and digital infrastructure in rural areas;
  • The role of digital connectivity and the transition of the traditional economy is seen as an essential element that may contribute to the diversification of traditional sectors of the rural economy concerning the digitization of the agricultural industry and digital capacity building in the rural areas.
Co-creation in multi-actor approach in PoliRural Häme pilot
  • How to improve stakeholders’ cooperation in the regional food sector to enhance the success of entrepreneurs? This was the main target when PoliRural with two other regional projects worked together on 10th of May 2022 in the “Meet together” event. Organizations of the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners of Häme, HAMK University of Applied Sciences and Smart&Lean Hub Oy invited 20 people from 14 different organizations to meet face-to-face.
New press coverage of PoliRural at Ypaithros Newspaper
  • On 12.04.2022, the thematic newspaper with national circulation, Ypaithros Chora, published an article concerning PoliRural project activities organised by the Greek pilot. The article describes the proposed rural development measures on critical regional issues related to the digitization and modernization of agriculture both in terms of improving productive activity and issues related to their environmental impact included in the PoliRural action plan.
PoliRural pilot Galilee: Meeting with the Minister of Communications
  • Following the Eastern-Galilee Action Plan of PoliRural, on Wednesday, 11.05.2022, PoliRural pilot Galilee representatives met with PM Yoaz Hendel, the Minister of Communications, at the Minister’s Office in Jerusalem (and with the Minister’s Adviser – Yoram Halperin) to discuss the upgrading of the Galilee’s digitalization infrastructure.
FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS, PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CHECK TE FOLLOWING LINK:

Polirural H2020 – Foresight Summit

Polirural Foresight Summit was held on the 11th of March 2022. Pilot leaders presented the further improvements of regional action plans. Project partners used the opportunity also to discuss about the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas and the SDM tool application.

Polirural H2020 – Atlas of the best practices Dragan Mishevski

 

Polirural Atlas of the best practices is presenting another story about the new entrant case study of Dragan Mishevski from Pilot11 in North Macedonia.

,,My interest in beekeeping started about 2 years ago, while I was helping another beekeeper to build a portable trailer for transportation of beehives. While working on these construction activities I became increasingly interested in bees and their way of living. From that point, with the help of the beekeeper where I was working on his trailer, I started production of honey with several beehives” – said Mishevski.

Read more at the following LINK.