Project overview
Smart village transition, a model for more competitive and attractive villages in Central Europe
Many rural areas in central Europe struggle with the digital transition. Strategies to become smarter and stay competitive are either missing or hard to transfer. The project “More than a village” changed this. The partnership developed a smart village model that makes rural regions more attractive for people and businesses. The partnership tested the model including action plans in five different regions with a focus on job creation and business development.
-
1,62m €
-
Project Budget
-
80%
-
of the Budget is funded by ERDF
-
5
-
Countries
-
8
-
Regions
-
8
-
Partners
-
3
-
Pilots
Duration
Start date
End date
Project progress
About the project
Project partnership
Project partners
Lead partner
LocaI Action Group Association "South Warmia"
Project partner
Roadmap
Challenge
Rural areas across Central Europe face many of the same challenges despite their different national contexts. Population decline, ageing communities, limited digital skills, fragmented business support services and fewer economic opportunities make it difficult for villages to remain competitive and attractive places to live and work. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), farmers and local entrepreneurs often lack access to the knowledge, networks and digital tools needed to innovate and grow. At the same time, rural areas face specific challenges such as food waste, underused tourism potential and limited market access for local producers. Addressing these issues requires more than individual local initiatives. It calls for practical, transferable solutions that strengthen local economies, improve public services, encourage entrepreneurship and help rural communities make better use of digital technologies while building on their own strengths.
Specific problem
The main problem was the gap between the Smart Village concept promoted in EU policies and its practical implementation in rural communities. While the Smart Village approach was increasingly recognised as a way to strengthen the resilience, attractiveness and competitiveness of rural areas, many local authorities and communities lacked the knowledge, tools and capacity needed to translate this concept into concrete actions. Rural areas across Central Europe face different but interconnected challenges, including demographic decline, limited access to services, digitalisation barriers, weak support systems for local businesses and difficulties in creating new economic opportunities. At the same time, each territory had its own specific assets and development potential, meaning that a single solution could not be applied everywhere. The challenge was therefore not only to promote the Smart Village concept, but to demonstrate how it could be adapted to different local contexts and transformed into practical solutions. Rural stakeholders needed tested examples, shared knowledge and guidance on how to identify their local strengths, involve communities and develop actions that respond to their specific needs.
Idea
The partnership advanced a Smart Village approach that identifies and mobilises local assets (social capital, cultural and natural resources, small enterprises and short food chains) to design context‑sensitive development pathways that increase attractiveness and competitiveness while respecting local priorities and capacities. The Joint Strategy aimed at providing a common strategy to counter the Circle of Decline in More than a Village rural areas, providing a path to implement, in each of the five pilot areas, a feasible change, via smart-transition actions, that create positive effects in each of the areas.
Solution
The objective of the “More than a Village” project was to demonstrate how the Smart Village approach can be adapted to the Central Europe context and translated into practical solutions that strengthen the attractiveness and competitiveness of rural areas. The project contributed to promoting a concept that was still emerging in many Central European regions by providing tested methods, tools and examples of how local assets, digital solutions and community involvement can support rural development. Partners tested tailor‑made responses in five pilot territories and consolidated lessons into three final tools. The project combined participatory design, local pilots and transnational learning to produce the Smart Village Business Support Tool, the Smart Tourism Village Tool and the Agri‑food Smart Village Tool.
What was delivered
The project delivered three main types of results: a) Joint Transnational Strategy on Smart Village Transition, supported by action plans for selected territories; b) Pilot actions testing different Smart Village solutions in partner regions; c) Transferable tools and joint solutions that can support rural communities in Central Europe and beyond. The project implemented five pilots across central Europe, creating a Smart Village Hub, a Digital Silver Economy Hub, a smart tourism co-working space, a food loss and waste marketplace, and a digital agri-food platform with agrometeorological stations. Their results were consolidated into three final tools: the Smart Village Business Support Tool, the Smart Tourism Village Tool and the Agri-food Smart Village Tool. Through these activities, the project moved beyond the conceptual level and demonstrated how Smart Village principles can be put into practice. The strategies, pilots and tools developed by the partnership provide local and regional stakeholders with practical approaches to address territorial challenges, build on local potential and support long-term rural development.
News
Events
Pilot actions
Outputs
Joint strategy for smart village transition in Central Europe
Transnational action plan for smart village transition
Smart village business support tool
Smart tourism village tool
Agri-food smart village tool
Report from the final evaluation of pilots
Project results
Project videos
More than a Village
The project lead partner is responsible for the content of this project website.