EU Rural Innovation Forum: FUTURAL

Context

FUTURAL is an EU-funded innovation project led by the Agricultural University of Athens, with 21 partners from across Europe. The project aims to test and implement a set of social, technological, and community-driven business innovations designed to create lasting change through collaboration with rural communities.

The project will host its first EU Rural Innovation Forum (EU-RIF), a two-day networking event that will bring together stakeholders from the rural ecosystem (FUTURAL multi-actor pilot projects, MAP, rural innovators, rural networks, policymakers, implementers, EU-funded projects, organizations, and entrepreneurs). The goal is to lay the foundations for capacity building and the exchange of experience on community-driven smart innovation in rural areas.

The first day will focus primarily on sharing lessons learned, methods, tools, and best practices developed by FUTURAL partners and pilots. The second day will focus on networking and building synergies with other smart rural initiatives across Europe, reflecting on how to make them actionable through innovative business models.

Objectives

• Increase the capacity of rural communities to implement and adopt social, technological, and business innovations by organizing a series of capacity-building workshops on policy frameworks and governance.
• Present and share experiences of co-creating innovations in the MAPs.
• Present the Alpha version of the FUTURAL Metasearch Platform and Smart Solutions.
• Maximize interaction and knowledge exchange between FUTURAL MAPs, partners, and expert participants from inside and outside the project.

Program

FIRST DAY: 15/05/2025

11:00 | Welcome
11:15 | EU Rural Innovation Forum Objectives and Agenda
11:30 | Showcasing Learning Journeys: Insights from FUTURAL Rural Areas (Capacity Building Workshop)
13:00 | Lunch Break
14:15 | FUTURAL Smart Solutions: Empowering Rural Innovation
Making Smart Solutions Accessible with FUTURAL Metasearch Platform
15:00 | Building Digital Competencies for Smart Rural Communities: Tools and Insights (Capacity Building Workshop)
16:30 | Break
17:00 | Rural Innovation in Policies: Are Policies Less Smart Than Smart Rural Areas?
17:45 | Stocktaking from the Day
18:00 | Conclusions and Closing of Day One

SECOND DAY: 16/05/2025

09:00 | Stocktaking from the Day
09:15 | Networking & Building Synergies with Other Rural Innovators
10:45 | Break
11:15 | Co-designing Sustainable Business Models for Rural Innovation (Interactive Session)
12:45 | Conclusions and Next Steps
13:00 | Lunch Break

Dates

From 14/05/2025 to 15/05/2025

Location

Zelaieta Zentroa (Amorebieta-Etxano, Bizkaia, Spain)

 

For more information, visit the FUTURAL Project.