“Innovative and inclusive tools for trainers and learners living in rural areas”
The RuralPlus project is a European Union funded project which started in February 2022, aiming at supporting and improving the quality of live of the people residing in rural communities as well as informing people about the various European projects
Project Motivation
In a world of cities, where 68% of the global population will live in densely populated cities in 2050, around 29% of the total
EU population today lives in rural areas (Source: United Nations).
The European countryside faces existential challenges that range from the decline and aging of its population to the scarcity
of job opportunities and basic services, passing through the risk of missing the technological train, with the consequent
danger of socio-economic and political marginalization that this implies. stage. If we take a look at digitization, with a vital
role in the growth and competitiveness of economies, we find that the digital divide is 14% on average in the EU, but
reaches up to 23% in some Member States such as, for example, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Portugal.
This also translates into a feeling of abandonment that can lead to unexpected scenarios, such as the proliferation of a
feeling of euro skepticism that, for example in the United Kingdom, has led to the departure of the British from the EU.
Despite the challenges ahead, there are opportunities to reinvent the rural world.
Rural Plus is proposed as a tool to continue supporting this process, offering opportunities and tools, as well as greater
synergies, to connect with rural populations, involving them in the construction of the Union.
The objectives of the project are:
-Improve knowledge and communication, through the training of rural mentors and the use of a language and tools adapted
to the local context. The Union continues to have a problem communicating its policies and projects to the public and if the
conference on the Future of Europe and the EU Youth Streategy seem to help, there is still a lack of someone to act as a
bridge between the institutions and the local population.
-Reduce the technological deficit and the participatory barrier, offering quality training opportunities that empower young
people and adults, as well as creating spaces for citizen participation through communication channels such as radio, social
networks, blogs and newsletters .
-To promote the inclusion of young people and women in the rural world, groups that usually face barriers in access to
education, the job market or access to services, but also with regard to citizen participation. Similarly, women living in the
countryside continue to be underrepresented in the agencies in charge of planning rural development plans and the
distribution of funds.
-Contribute to creating more cooperative and functional urban-rural links that make it possible to improve the socioeconomic system of the rural world, increase its population and thus enable the reactivation of essential services such as education, health and transportation