Fostering Sustainable, Balanced, Equitable, Place-based and Inclusive Development of Rural-Urban Communities' Using Specific Spatial Enhanced Attractivenes Mapping ToolBox. PoliRuralPlus builds on the successful results that the preceeding PoliRural project provided for rural regions. In PoliRuralPlus, we want to address the research agenda established by PoliRural and broaden our foresight, planning and development scope to regions that include both urban and rural areas, and anything in between.

Objectives

O1 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

O2 To 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.

O3 To 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.

O4 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.

O5 To 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.

O6 To 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.

O7 To create synergies with the New European Bauhaus (NEB) and other EU-funded projects, facilitating ideas flows from urban to rural settings and vice versa.