Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU have set in Europe a new concept: Citizen Energy Communities. This directive should be transposed in every EU member country, including into the Spanish legal framework. Unión…

People need mobility services to live a daily life independent of a car, whether from necessity or by their choice. The lack of suitable mobility services is a serious challenge in much of rural Europe, where there is limited or no regular organised public transport. While there have been huge advances in sustainable mobility in…

The aim of the workshop will be to discuss how to reach out to various rural population groups who are not well-represented at the European level or who feel left behind by policy-makers. Such groups include, for instance,  youth, refugees, remote communities, Roma, women, etc. The EU-funded SIMRA project has been collecting examples of social…

New Challenges for Rural Tourism: Tourism has often been one of the first options rural areas have explored when seeking to diversify their economic structure and to develop alternatives to traditional primary activities. Rural areas boast high-value tourism resources: nature and landscape, historical, cultural and ethnographic heritage, gastronomy and artisanal products, which can support a…

Mountain territories have strong innovation and growth potential in the areas of key importance to the European Union’s objectives, for example in green growth (energy, bioeconomy…) or inclusive growth (strong communities, welcoming territories…). To begin the session, Euromontana will introduce examples of (innovative) governance addressing specific challenges of European rural mountainous areas and including social…

How can we enable local food systems to work for farmers, consumers, and for rural communities with perspective of a just transition to a low carbon, biodiverse society? This is a big question, one that this workshop will explore creatively. First we will outline the terrain for local food in Europe – with a thriving…

There is a strong synergy between the Smart Islands initiative and the Smart Villages concept. Through concrete examples from the islands of Europe, this workshop will explore some of the 10 key steps for action towards becoming smart, inclusive and thriving islands and villages. In particular we will look at the move away from fossil…

Supporting ‘transition’ in Europe’s rural communities We will examine the opportunities for and examples of community-led climate action in Europe. Presentations look at active examples, support systems and links to the current and emerging policy framework (inc. Smart Villages). The workshop will consider options to co-create a framework to support ‘transition’ in Europe’s rural communities….

The term innovation is often less valued than research and development, but undoubtedly it is the sum of small great advances that has driven the evolution of our society. The redefinition of innovation as the ability to establish connections between previously unrelated experiences and searching for original solutions that bring value to people. It will…