Territorial development for the green transition: Harnessing the potential of rural communities

The Rural Pact is part of the European Commission’s Action Plan to achieve the long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas by 2040. The Pact aims to mobilise all stakeholders interested in rural areas (public authorities, civil society, businesses, researchers, and individuals) to contribute to achieving the rural vision.

An important function of the Rural Pact is to foster discussion on key questions concerning EU and national policies affecting rural areas, for example through organising periodic “policy labs” where decision-makers, officials, NGO representatives and local actors share experiences and ideas in an informal setting.

The Rural Pact Support Office organised a Policy Lab on 19 September 2024 focused on “Territorial development for the green transition: Harnessing the potential of rural communities”. In view of the strong potential of rural areas to contribute to the green transition, it is important to ensure that rural communities participate in, and benefit from, this transition, and this can be achieved through enhanced use of territorial tools such as LEADER/CLLD, Smart Villages and Integrated Territorial Investments.

Part of the discussion focused specifically on analysing how the different territorial tools can contribute to the green transition, and what can be improved in the EU and national policies post-2027. The discussants included representatives of the European Commission (DG AGRI and DG REGIO), local stakeholders presenting examples, and experts. Recordings and presentations available on the event website include:

• Keynote speech by Jose Enrique Garcilazo from OECD, highlighting the need for better policy responses to the challenges of green transition, including the importance of place-based approaches;
• Presentation by LDnet expert Stefan Kah from the University of Strathclyde about Cohesion Policy tools for integrated territorial development, including an overview of non-urban ITIs under Cohesion Policy in 2014-2020;
• Interesting examples of green transition achieved through territorial tools, including ITIs from Portugal and Italy, and an example of a multi-funded CLLD strategy from Czechia.