Empowering rural futures: OECD, DG REGIO and rural stakeholders share their views on what contributes to the right to stay
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The Permanent Delegation to the EU of the Castilla y León region, acting as part of the Demographic Change Regions Network, held a conference on 13 February on the right to stay in rural areas. The meeting, at the European Committee of the Regions, allowed for discussion in the context of the upcoming EU strategy on this right.
Image by Roland Dumke on Canva
Findings on demographic change from the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) clearly show that Europe’s population is both declining and ageing, and that the more a population is distant from urban centres, the more it declines.
At the conference, ‘Empowering rural futures: The right to stay in rural areas’, speakers from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the EC’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) noted that these trends are likely to accelerate. However, they challenged the narrative that the decline of rural regions is inevitable.
The OECD report Reinforcing Rural Resilience points out that while economic growth of rural areas continues to lag behind, there are striking exceptions. Specific assets, specialised skills and rural-urban linkages can add significant economic value. Emphasis must be placed on the importance of fostering skills, enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship, and improving digital connectivity to enable competitiveness. The argument for the right to stay is thus one that involves capitalising on assets and innovation, and making use of rural areas’ economic, social and environmental specificities.
Since January 2023 and the publication of the Commission’s communication on harnessing talent, the Talent Booster Mechanism (TBM) has been applied in 82 diverse EU regions, in areas where there is general decline in the working-age population and which young people are leaving. The TBM has made use of specific support options as well as the European Urban Initiative and Cohesion funding to focus on three aspects: innovation and digitalisation, skills development, and services adequate to quality of life.
In addition, four working groups, focused on ensuring that skills and talent are available in all regions, are finalising their work, which will be presented during upcoming webinars. The TBM work is seen as contributing to work on the right to stay strategy, which the European Commission intends to publish by the end of 2026.
The conference also included testimonials from rural people. For example, on the need for capacity in local administrations to solve problems, both at municipal level and in new businesses, to deal with financial investments aimed at rural areas.
Explore the latest Rural Pact resources on stronger, prosperous, connected and resilient rural areas.