RUSTIK is a four-year transdisciplinary research project aiming to enable rural communities’ actors and policymakers to design better strategies, initiatives and policies fostering sustainability transitions in rural areas.
Considering increasing social and ecological challenges, the project envisages an analysis of current adaption requirements and the support of effective rural policy-making processes. The project will contribute to an advanced understanding of different rural functionalities and characteristics as well as the (future) potentials and challenges of rural areas.
RUSTIK addresses the topic by illuminating central key transitions in rural areas:
- Socio-economy
- Climate change and environment
- Digitalisation
Five types of rural functions are RUSTIK’s starting point for characterising the diversity of rural areas and their capacity to respond to these transitions.
- Provision of ecosystem services
- Specific innovative infrastructure and services
- Provision of high qualitative and accessible land-based products
- Distributed and diversified production system
- Social capital, cultural assets
Living Labs in 14 European Pilot Regions in 10 European countries will be the central element of an action-oriented multi-actor approach to researching rural diversity and societal transformations. The role of EPRC is most prominent in analysing how evidence and indicators are used in strategies & policy implementation.
To visit the RUSTIK website, click here.
EPRC Team involved in the project includes Stefan Kah, Heidi Vironen, Neli Georgieva and Liliana Fonseca.