Latest news
Analysing rural start-up entrepreneurship: new OECD-JRC insights from Portugal
A new working paper explores how geography shapes entrepreneurship in Portugal, challenging the usual narrative. While start-up rates appear lower in rural areas than in urban ones, this gap reverses once demographic and sectoral differences are taken into account.
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
Join our upcoming Good Practice Webinar on LEADER/CLLD, Integrated Territorial Investments and Smart Villages!
Territorial instruments and approaches are essential mechanisms for delivering rural development policies across the EU. Express your interest by 24 March to participate in this dedicated Rural Pact webinar held on 22 April 2026.
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
European Startup Village Forum: scaling up rural innovation through trust, coordination, and investment
Rural innovation is already delivering – but scaling it requires better data, simpler rules, coordinated funding and empowered local actors, concluded the European Startup Village Forum 2025 of 29 October. The Forum brought together policymakers, researchers, financiers and local leaders to turn rural innovation from isolated success stories into a mainstream driver of competitiveness and cohesion.
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
Upcoming events
From Smart Villages to Smart Rural Futures: experiences from the Baltic region
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
Latest publications
Rural Vision Magazine | Edition 3
The third edition of the Rural Vision Magazine features a range of stakeholder voices on the most pressing developments around the EU rural vision and Pact in 2025.
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
Highlights Report | Good Practice Webinar ‘Rural innovation’
This highlights report outlines inspiring initiatives and practical ways to strengthen innovation ecosystems and empower local communities to drive local innovation action.
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
Rural Vision Magazine | Edition 2
The second edition of the Magazine features a range of stakeholder voices on the most pressing developments around the EU’s rural vision and Pact in 2024.
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
Latest good practice
Regional innovation hub boosts sustainable food supply and resilience in rural Slovenia
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
One-stop shop to multiple funding sources for rural areas in Tyrol, Austria
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
Silicon Vilstal fosters social innovation in rural areas of Lower Bavaria, Germany
- Rural Pact