The PoliRural+ builds on the successful results PoliRural provided for rural regions. It takes the research agenda established by PoliRural and broadens the foresight, planning and development scope to regions that include both urban and rural areas, and anything in between. The overall objective is to use best practice from PoliRural, include urban areas and design, pilot and implement integrated territorial policies that prioritise experimentation and innovation in domains that favour bi-directional urban-rural synergies, dialogue and feedback. The joint efforts shall foster a sustainable, balanced, equitable, place-based and inclusive development through above mentioned improved connections, piloted governance arrangements, and applied integrated territorial policies towards the development of a well-being regional economy.
In particular Polirural+ aims to:
develop and implement a foresight-based framework for interregional cooperation and coordination, aimed at overcoming policy barriers and improving governance arrangements to foster integrated and smart rural-urban development strategies.
develop and implement integrated strategies and action plans that enhance the availability of business and innovation opportunities in rural areas, while promoting a more proximate, circular, and green economy and revitalising rural places through better connectivity, improved valorization of cultural and natural heritage, and stronger innovation ecosystems
enhance mutual access to services and social connectivity between rural and urban areas, as well as build resilience and capacity for innovation through the implementation of regional action plans and pilot initiatives.
Contribute to the implementation of the European Green Deal, with a specific focus on the farm-to-fork and biodiversity strategies, the organic action plan, the common agricultural policy (CAP), the long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas, the flagship initiative “Research and innovation for rural communities,” and the EU territorial agenda for 2030.
enhance cross-disciplinary collaboration and leverage the full potential of European Research Infrastructures, EOSC, EU Data spaces, INSPIRE, Copernicus, DIAS, Eurostat, FAO, and other relevant data sources for integrated rural-urban development
facilitate mission-oriented experimentation and innovation by leveraging data-driven decision making, collaborative analysis, and system dynamics to advance the development of a well-being economy based on proximity, circularity, green economy/society, services, culture, landscape and heritage, and mobility.
create synergies with the New European Bauhaus (NEB) and other EU-funded projects, facilitating ideas flows from urban to rural settings and vice versa
Polirural+ has nine place-based pilots covering a wide typology of regions. Seven of them are located in predominantly rural regions, and two in intermediate or predominantly urban regions (Malta and Italy). Three pilots are in rural-coastal areas (Greece, Italy, Malta), four in the border region (Ireland, Czechian, Latvia, and Malta), two in the mountain region (Greece and Czechia), four in sparsely-populated regions (Slovakia, Czechia, Spain, and Latvia), and one, i.e. Malta in the island region
PSNC role is firstly as expert on semantic data modelling and interoperability, but also as experienced partner in data spaces, digital twins, and as HPC and infrastructure provider. Accordingly, PSNC will support the experimentation and innovation technologies in selected domains, dealing with the semantic interoperability aspects and providing data harmonisation and integration solutions.
