RUSTIK runs 14 Living Labs to foster sustainability transitions in rural communities
RUSTIK (Rural Sustainability Transitions through Integration of Knowledge for improved policy processes) is a four-year transdisciplinary research project. The project aims to enable rural communities’ actors and policymakers to design better strategies, initiatives and policies fostering sustainability transitions of rural areas.
The project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, envisages an analysis of current adaption requirements and the support of effective rural policy-making processes for a better understanding of the different rural functionalities and characteristics as well as the potentials and challenges of rural areas. Environment, climate-energy, socio-economic and digital will be the key transition pathways studied in the project.
Living Labs in 14 European Pilot Regions in 10 European countries will be the central element to generate new insights into rural diversity and societal transformations. RUSTIK’s Living Labs will work on the identification of new data, methods of data collection, combined with current data sources to set up relevant indicators. The project will also focus on data integration and dissemination, to make information and analysis accessible and valuable for actors and policymakers; and to improve rural impact assessment. The final goal is to enhance policy strategies and governance structures. To do so, 3 sequential phases: situational review, data experimentation, and policy learning are envisaged.
A multidisciplinary consortium
The consortium involves 30 partner organisations. Eight universities and four research institutes are providing scientific expertise within the fields of rural development, spatial planning and reporting, policy process, climate change and sustainability; two knowledge-based SMEs contribute to this with ready-to-apply technologies and approaches; and two NGOs act as intermediaries between university resp.
Local and regional embedded partners ensure a practice-oriented implementation of the project. This comprises partners from five local or regional public administration, two local action groups (LAGs), three business associations and three regional development agencies.
Two European umbrella organisation representing rural mountainous stakeholders and regions, Euromontana, and the European LEADER association for rural development, ELARD, are key multipliers towards other European regions and particularly support the dissemination towards the European Union.
The consortium efforts will contribute to enhancing existing European policy tools and approaches, most of all to support the European Green Deal, the European Digital Strategy, the European Pillar of Social Rights and the EU Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas of the European Union, the EU Cohesion policy, the common agricultural policy, and, in particular, the European agricultural guarantee fund (EAGF).
Ersilia’s role:
Ersilia coordinates a Living Lab in Osona, Catalonia (Spain), facilitating the rethinking of territorial and urban planning aligned with environmental, socio-economic, and digital transitions. The goal is to promote rational land use, protect the environment, and achieve sustainable development.
Project Partners: The RUSTIK project is coordinated by the Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS) from Germany, with 31 partners from 10 European countries. Key contributors include MCRIT Multicriteria Planning (Spain), which leads WP2, the University of Gloucestershire (UK), leading WP3, the University of Eastern Finland (Finland), leading WP4, the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research (Austria), leading WP5, the Galician Enterprise-University Foundation (Spain), leading WP6, and Euromontana (France). Other important partners include the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Belgrade (Serbia), the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization at the Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), the European Leader Association for Rural Development (Belgium), Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria), MontagnAppennino (Italy), the Regional Development Agency of Eastern Serbia (Serbia), Zoo Sop Employment Centre (Slovenia), and the Association of the City of Troyan, Apriltsi, and Ugarchin (Bulgaria). Additional partners include OI North Italian Industrial Tomatoes (Italy), the Regional Council of North Karelia (Finland), the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), the Regional Economics Council of Rhein-Hunsrück (Germany), the Regional Association of Spittal-Millstättersee-Lieser-Malta-Nockberge (Austria), the Foundation for the Development of Polish Agriculture (Poland), Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce (Poland), the Decentralized Municipal Entity Sant Miquel de Balenya (Spain), the Galician Agency for Rural Development (Spain), the University of Strathclyde (UK), the Gloucestershire Rural Community Council (UK), Mapita Oy (Finland), Monmouthshire District Council (UK), and the Ersilia Foundation (Spain). This diverse network of organizations brings together expertise in rural development, policy-making, academia, and local governance to advance the project’s goals.
Keep updated at: https://rustik-he.eu/