Smart Villages and Rural Towns in Ireland: Revitalising Rural Areas through Community-Led Innovation

Department of Rural and Community Development and the National Rural Network invites you to Smart Villages and Rural Towns in Ireland: Revitalising Rural Areas through Community-Led Innovation Workshop

Background

The EU Action for Smart Villages initiative was launched by the European Commission in 2017. Smart Villages, and Smart Rural Towns in an Irish context, are rural areas and communities which build on, and enhance their existing strengths and assets through creative thinking, and by embracing innovation, to create desirable places for rural people to live and work. Whilst digitisation is significant to the creation of Smart Villages and Rural Towns, social innovation is also paramount.

The realisation of ‘smart’ rural areas and communities can play a key role in the development and sustainability of rural Ireland by tackling issues, such as depopulation, the digital divide, limited employment opportunities and out-migration, as well as climate change.

Seminar Aims

This national seminar on Smart Villages and Rural Towns in Ireland has been structured to build a greater knowledge base around the EU Action for Smart Villages initiative, and demonstrate how it can be planned, implemented and realized in an Irish context. It will bring together key rural development stakeholders from across Ireland and the EU to showcase and exchange ideas on how rural communities can help retain and attract people to live and work in their locality by implementing practical and tangible solutions to the various local challenges they face in the form of digital, social and environmental innovation. Policy instruments which can support the development of Smart Villages and Rural Towns both now and in the future will also be explored, with a particular focus on the LEADER Programme, cooperation measures and digital strategies.

Agenda to follow in the coming weeks!