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Local pilot actions and transfer of results at national and European level
Under the title, “A future for lagging regions”, three German regions and three regions from other European member states formed the pilot action’s partnership. A multilevel partnership was established involving multipliers at national and European level.
Since 2020, the six model regions in Germany, France, Portugal and Austria have developed innovative spatial planning solutions that improve the everyday lives of people in rural regions – in the areas of mobility, digitalisation, local supplies and health. They rely on long-term intercommunal cooperation, promote meeting places and pool skills.
The pilot action strengthened economic, social and cultural centres in structurally weak regions and contributed to maintaining the quality of life outside the metropolises. It thus supported spatially balanced development (“Balanced Europe”).
The European discourse supported the sensitisation of decision-makers at local, regional, national and European level to the issues of structurally weak areas and to improve consideration of them in political strategies and concepts.
The pilot action increased the regional effectiveness and visibility of the 2030 Territorial Agenda. It has repeatedly provided an opportunity to introduce the TA 2030 into national and European spatial development policy discourses.
Rural regions in the pilot action and beyond act as proactive regions that achieve a great deal through expertise, cooperation and commitment despite limited resources. The pilot action shows the positive leverage effects that cooperative regional development can have locally. The final publication presents the results and lessons learned from the testing of innovative measures to safeguard services of general interest in the partner regions in the areas of digitalisation, mobility, health and local supply and makes recommendations for cooperative regional development:
The publication can be found at “Publications”.
Concepts and approaches as to how the term resilience can be useful in the context of the development of structurally weak rural areas were discussed at the last partner meeting of the TA2030 pilot action “A future for Lagging Regions” on January 24, 2023:
The publication can be found at “Publications”.
Due to dispersed settlement structures and lower population density, the demand for local public transport is often low and it is difficult for the regions to provide economically viable and needs-oriented public mobility services. In order to ensure sustainable mobility in rural areas in future, mobility actors need to provide flexible types of services and solutions adapted to the regional needs. Partner regions are currently testing various approaches. Prioritising mobility rather than transport must be understood as a new paradigm. New “unusual” alliances and strong local cooperation are essential to deal with these tasks.
The publication “Main conclusions Fourth Partner Meeting on Mobility Solutions for Lagging Regions // 21. – 23.09.2022” presents practical examples from the regions involved in Europe and comes to the following conclusions:
The publication can be found at “Publications”.
Digital transformation is a process that offers great opportunities for the development of structurally weak rural areas. It can help increase the attractiveness of places of settlement, work and life. The publication “Main conclusions Third Partner Meeting on Changes and Challenges of Digitalisation for Lagging Regions/25. – 26.04.2022” presents good examples from the regions involved in Europe and comes to the following conclusions:
The publication also highlights prerequisites for regional digital transformation. The differences between rural and urban digitalisation are examined and the role of regions and municipalities in defining the right strategy and managing digital transformation is differentiated.
The publication can be found at “Publications”.
Strategy development is a tool to define and to visualise common objectives for current and future challenges. This publication shows good examples from the regions involved and comes to the following conclusions:
The publication can be found at “Publications”.