The conference ‘Bridging Vision and Action: Smart Rural Development That Leaves No Region Behind’ takes place in Sofia (BG) on 24 March 2026. The event invites participants active or interested in rural development to join the discussion about the future of smart rural development. Interested stakeholders can now register at the event website.
Let’s Talk About the Future
Rural areas account for over 80% of the European Union’s territory. Yet, territorial imbalances and demographic decline challenge the quality of life and the ‘freedom to stay’ in Europe’s countryside. A similar development can be observed in the candidate countries. Hence, together with stakeholders from municipalities, national governments, civil society, business, and research, we want to explore how smart rural development can support a spatial perspective that leaves no region behind. We aim at identifying concrete actions to bring a vision of good quality of life into action and how these actions can be translated into the next funding period.
From Strategic Planning to Concrete Action
The conference provides space for both: sharing experiences and discussing perspectives for a common strategic vission as well as discussing good practices and concrete steps towards implementation. The experiences from the Horizon project SMART ERA serve as a starting point for participants to reflect on smart rural development by bringing in their own knowledge or simply learn how to bring your own smart rural development initiative to life. Against this background, we will discuss how to bring together local participatory governance, technological and non-technological innovation, and evidence together in order to draft a smart rural development strategy that can be successfully implemented. This will be further supported through the SMART ERA call for proposals that will be launched in summer 2026 to support regions in drafting their smart innovation strategy.
About the Event
Bridging Vision and Action: Smart Rural Development That Leaves No Region Behind is organised by representatives of the 4 EU macro-regional strategies and the SMART ERA project.
The event is held under the auspices of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Danube Strategy and supported by funds from the City of Vienna, Horizon Europe, Interreg Danube Region, and Interreg Baltic Sea.
The registration, programme, and further information about the event is available at the EVENT WEBSITE.
More information on Priority Area 10’s smart communities activities are available here.
Photocredit: Canva
