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Population decline and aging have led to a host of policy issues, including labor shortages, fiscal sustainability concerns, and difficulties in maintaining infrastructure and services in rural areas all over Europe.
In response, a new wave of planning innovation is emerging: the RURALPLAN project, recently concluded, has pioneered a fresh approach to rural development by focussing on realistic demographic assessments and active citizen involvement rather then relying on traditional growth-oriented strategies that have failed to reverse shrinkage.
Read more about the RURALPLAN project's findings in Magazine TerritoriALL
RUPIL model
The backbone of RURALPLAN is the Rural Planning and Innovation Lab (RUPIL), a model designed to help rural communities adapt to demographic realities through collaboration, knowledge-based decision-making, and innovative local strategies.
Piloted in three diverse regions-Albula in Switzerland, Malung-Sälen in Sweden, and Os in Norway-RUPIL encourages local authorities to move beyond seeing population decline as failure and instead focus on sustainable development and improved quality of life.
Recommendations from the project
The project’s interactive toolbox and co-creative, bottom-up methodology have provided practical guidance for involving residents, businesses, and policymakers in shaping resilient futures for shrinking rural areas, offering a replicable model for communities across Europe facing similar demographic challenges
Deliveries from RURALPLAN project are collected on this website
Presentation of findings and toolbox
Researchers Kjell Overvåg and Trude Hella Eide will present findings, tools, and recommendations at a RURALPLAN seminar at the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development on Friday, May 9th.
The event will be held in Norwegian, and participants will have the option to join online or attend in person.
Read more information and register for RURALPLAN's dissemination event at the Ministry.