What are Smart Villages? Smart Villages are communities in rural areas that use innovative solutions to improve their ability to adapt to change, building on local strengths and opportunities.
This 3min video by the European Network for Rural Development explains the concept:
Why are Smart Villages important? Smart Villages work as a collective, implementing innovate projects which improve the quality of living for all. Smart village projects can be realised in areas such as transport, energy, governance, digital connectivity, health, local enterprise, remote working.
How do we know the Smart Village concept works? A number of pilots have been delivered in villages across the EU. Most recently multiple villages in the Alpine region developed a number of Smart Village projects. Projects ranged from the creation of a local producers’ selling platforms to help shorten supply chains, operating a citizen taxi to address transport issues and one remote village secured a company to bring fibre broadband to their area.
Participating villages have shared their projects, approaches and outcomes here: https://smart-villages.eu/language/en/home/
What funding will be available for villages who wish to develop Smart projects? Currently there is no singular source of funding for Smart Villages. The area is considered important to the EU and there are indicators that it will become a priority area for the next LEADER Programme in 2023.
An Introductory Workshop will take place on May 27th in Saint Laurence O’Toole’s
The booking link with further info is below: