News | 07 Jul 2026
Join the rural sessions of the 2026 European Week of Regions and Cities!
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
- Stronger Rural Areas
- Connected rural areas
- Resilient rural areas
- Prosperous rural areas
Registration is now open for this year’s European Week of Regions and Cities. From 12 to 14 October 2026, participants will gather in Brussels to exchange experiences and ideas on the role of cohesion policy in addressing regional and urban challenges. The agenda features a wealth of sessions focused on key issues for rural territories.
Image by paologallophoto on Canva
Explore the sessions on rural matters at the European Week of Regions and Cities – registrations close on 30 September:
Right to stay
- The right to stay: keeping our mountains alive, dynamic, accessible and inhabited (13 October)
- Small Places Matter and the Right to Stay – New Perspectives (14 October)
- Mapping the Geography of Choice (14 October)
National and Regional Partnership Plans
- Post-2027 Cohesion: Best Practices for a Genuine National-Regional Partnership (13 October)
- Strong National and Regional Partnership Plans: bringing together objectives, territory and people (14 October)
- Civil society's role in the context of the National and Regional Partnership Plans (14 October)
Governance and innovation
- Who speaks for regions? Multilevel governance and Europe’s next long-term budget (12 October)
- Future-Proof Territories: How Provinces Turn Cohesion into Resilience (12 October)
- Stronger Together: Place-Based Innovation as a Tool for Territorial Cohesion (12 October)
- From grassroots innovation to EU policy: governance pathways linking local action and European strategies (13 October)
Demography
- Strong regions, better lives: Place-based investments that keep communities alive (12 October)
- From Decline to Resilience: Demographic Challenges and Policy Responses in Eastern Border Regions (14 October)
- Navigating demographic change: A science-policy dialogue on regional attractiveness (14 October)
Connectivity and rural-urban linkages
- Urban – Rural: Mind the gap! (14 October)
- Bridging the divide: How tailored mobility solutions build a stronger, more connected Europe (14 October)
- Overcoming barriers to the right to stay: How transport connectivity affects the attractiveness of a territory (14 October)
Culture, energy, competitiveness and more!
- Transcultura: Reconnecting European Rural Territories through Culture (12 October)
- Developing resilient regional and local energy communities in the EU (13 October)
- From Heritage to Growth: Revitalising Traditional Ecosystems in Europe’s Regions (13 October)
- From cohesion to competitiveness: how regions strengthen Europe in emerging global domains (14 October)