Maal elamise päev – the Day of Countryside Living – is an initiative aimed at attracting more entrepreneurial and enthusiastic people to the Estonian countryside. The event was designed in 2019 with positive branding of the rural lifestyle, with active communities and services offered by rural municipalities. It contrasts with the image it is very often portrait in the Estonian national news more focused on the negative trends such as the closing of schools given the decreasing number of children in needs of that service. The initiative aims to tackle the problem of rural depopulation by supporting families, who are thinking about returning or finding a new home in the countryside, to make informed decisions and establish contact with relevant organisations before moving. The event is sponsored by the Estonian Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Rural Affairs, as well as different organisations under a cooperation agreement. The Day of Countryside Living has been celebrated annually since 2019 on the third Saturday of September, preceded by a conference a week earlier.

The project’s long-term objective is to shift the demographic trends of rural areas in Estonia by providing a true and direct understanding of how people live, work and study in the countryside. Since jobs are becoming more flexible, it is often possible to do remote work from home in rural areas, and the need to stay in the city is more connected with the availability of services. Therefore, the purpose of the annual event is: 

Each year the event brings together many individuals and organisations willing to share their stories and show what the rural lifestyle offers. This is achieved thanks to cooperation between 10 rural organisations and rural municipalities, and the leadership of the Estonian LEADER Association to coordinate efforts. Visitors can explore local schools, municipal centres, nurseries, health centres, cultural and sports centres, community buildings, local businesses, libraries, businesses and more. This helps them make informed decisions about relocation to these areas. Companies also present job opportunities and real estate available in the area. More than 500 companies from all over Estonia normally participate in this event. In 2022, over 20 000 visitors attended. Participants can use an interactive map available on the initiative's website to familiarise themselves with participating rural municipalities and plan their itinerary for the day. The initiative's platform also publishes dozens of stories about people in Estonia who decided to move from the city to the countryside. The target audience for the day is not just visitors from urban areas, but also rural people themselves to celebrate their lifestyle, increase their self-esteem and take pride in their achievements.

A good marketing and communication campaign co-designed by all the actors involved and led by the steering committee lies behind the success of this initiative. A week before the event, an opening conference on rural policy is organised to raise this topic higher on the political agenda and gain the attention of media and policy-makers at both the national and local levels. The event website and social media are active all year round to highlight stories about rural lifestyles and rural businesses. During the visitor day in September, an adventure game based on geolocation is available that can be played on a mobile app. This encourages people to visit more places and win prizes from participating organisations, while the organisers can get more feedback from participants to keep improving the format. The main challenge has been growing the number of participating municipalities, which still requires more effort to keep increasing their involvement, sometimes by relying more on the network of local action groups, which tend to have fewer constraints to join the initiative than public administrations. The initiative has taken inspiration from other open days in Estonia and neighbouring countries to design its programme, such as an event in Finland using farm visit to promote local food.