Local Dynamos Host Fourth RURACTIVE Workshop to Showcase Innovation and Empower Communities

The fourth round of local workshops of the RURACTIVE project were successfully held over the past weeks, organised by the twelve Dynamos with a strong focus on rural innovation and community collaboration. The event marked a key milestone in the ongoing effort to foster inclusive and sustainable development in rural areas across Europe.

The workshop had two central objectives:

• to present the outcomes of the initial stage of the Open Call for Innovators, and
• to gather valuable input on the proposed solutions from each Rural Innovation Ecosystem.

During the workshop, innovators, selected through the Open Call, had the opportunity to pitch their ideas and provide technical presentations outlining how their proposed solutions address specific local rural challenges previously developed. The proposals covered a wide range of topics ranging from smart agriculture to community-based renewable energy and digital inclusion. Stakeholders from across the regions, including local authorities, community leaders, researchers, and civil society organisations, actively participated in the pitching sessions. Their valuable feedback plays a crucial role in the next phase of the project, where innovators will refine and adapt their proposed solutions to the unique needs of local communities based on the input received.

This workshop is not just about presenting ideas — it is about dialogue. The feedback from the communities is essential, as it directly influences which solutions move forward to receive funding for stage two of the RURACTIVE Open Call and support for deployment locally. In this next stage, chosen innovators will receive funding to bring their solutions to life, working together with the communities they aim to serve.

With community engagement at its core, the fourth RURACTIVE local workshop reaffirms the project’s commitment to co-creating sustainable rural futures through collaboration, innovation, and local empowerment.

This marks the end of the extensive co-creation process in the Dynamos, and we now look forward to sharing more information about the solutions implementation soon.

For more on the previous workshops please visit: Local Workshop One, Local Workshop Two and Local Workshop Three.

Impressions from the Dynamo workshops:

Zamora, Spain

North-East Scotland, UK

Zadar, Croatia

Abruzzo, Italy

Törbel-Moosalpregion, Switzerland