Electronic monitoring of residual waste collection and the level of recycling using digital and technological innovation.

Implemented in : Košeca

Country : Slovakia

Initial investment : 11,000 €

The use of drones for precision agriculture, efficient application of weed control or fertilisers and optimised field management.

Implemented in : Marathon

Country : Greece

Initial investment : 40,000 €

A group of motivated village residents working together to connect people and initiatives on energy transition, biodiversity, climate adaptation and circular economy.

Implemented in : Molenlanden

Country : Netherlands

Initial investment : 5,000 €

The creation of a physical space for selling a range of locally produced sustainable goods and for enhancing consumer education around sustainable living.

Implemented in : Altenkirchen

Country : Germany

Initial investment : 7,000 €

Rehabilitating former railway infrastructure to create a network of hiking and cycling trails.

Implemented in : Valmiera

Country : Latvia

Initial investment : 47,000 €

The use of sensors and monitoring devices to better monitor and manage the use of different types of parking space around the community.

Implemented in : Edenderry

Country : Ireland

Initial investment : 35,000 €

The village is re-created in a 3D digital model to allow for the testing and modelling of different aspects of village development.

Implemented in : Veberöd

Country : Sweden

Initial investment : 50,000 €

A community-initiated forest management system aimed at protecting the village and fire and the restoration and structural regeneration of the surrounding forestry area and landscape.

Implemented in : Ferraria de São João

Country : Portugal

Initial investment : 45,000 €

Growing of plants and vegetables in a highly controlled soilless indoor environment with automated irrigation and lighting according to precise needs.

Implemented in : Psematismenos

Country : Cyprus

Initial investment : 1,700,000 €

The organisation of local rural events based on a detailed green plan to minimise environmental impact.

Implemented in : Emajõgi River basin

Country : Estonia

Initial investment : 1,000 €

An online tool hosted on the municipal website to make it easier for citizens to pay municipal fees and rent municipal inventory.

Implemented in : Patokryje

Country :

Initial investment : 2,100 €

A smartphone application enabling villagers to find, book and borrow shared resources.

Implemented in : Torup

Country : Denmark

Initial investment : 45,000 €

A smartphone app that provides up-to-date information for patients on doctors’ opening hours and other health services in rural areas.

Implemented in : Bregenz Forest

Country : Austria

Initial investment : 45,000 €

The use of waste materials and their transformation into biogas as a renewable energy source, from which all the electricity and the heating needs of the village are generated.

Implemented in : Kněžice

Country :

Initial investment : 5,630,000 €

DorfFunk is a smartphone app to support information exchange and communication in rural communities.

Implemented in : Lemgo

Country : Germany

Initial investment : 90,000 €

A concept that uses a community space to provide food and cooking-related training courses aimed at the local population.

Implemented in : La Alberca

Country :

Initial investment : 10,500 €

A non-commercial on-demand shuttle service for rural communities.

Implemented in : Amt Röbel-Müritz

Country : Germany

Initial investment : 82,000 €

A free smartphone app which provides locals and visitors to rural areas with information on local public services, commercial activities and recreation.

Implemented in : Hageland region

Country : Belgium – Flanders

Initial investment : 230,493 €

Installation of state-of-the-art wireless internet access in the centres of rural community life.

Implemented in : Villarcayo de Merindad de Castilla la Vieja

Country :

Initial investment : 35,000 €

Neighbours, private companies and public institutions come together to install and manage a system to generate and distribute local renewable energy.

Implemented in : Orexa

Country :

Initial investment : 169,500 €

A participatory governance structure led by the municipality that helps coordinate the activities of local volunteers in providing targeted services to vulnerable members of the local community.

Implemented in : Athienou

Country : Cyprus

Initial investment : €

Farmers cooperate to implement area-based water infiltration systems to reduce CO2 emissions due to peat oxidation.

Implemented in : Area Meijepolder

Country : Netherlands

Initial investment : €

The creation of a self-service shop operated through an electronic key system that allows local farmers to sell their organic food directly to customers.

Implemented in : Noordeloos

Country : Netherlands

Initial investment : 60,910 €

An online platform that enables tourists and locals to book destination-to-destination public transport connections in rural areas.

Implemented in : Nockberge Region

Country : Austria

Initial investment : 115,000 €

A school for young children created through a public-private partnership in order to restore this crucial service that can enable families to live in relatively isolated areas.

Implemented in : Kalopanagiotis

Country : Cyprus

Initial investment : 475,000 €

Production and selling of local products by disadvantaged local families through a non-profit company.

Implemented in : Szalatnak

Country : Hungary

Initial investment : 5,880 €

Creation of an innovative cultural centre in isolated and depopulated communities to attract new visitors to the village with high quality services and cultural productions.

Implemented in : Ostana

Country : Italy

Initial investment : 1,010,000 €

A public operator model for rural co-working spaces.

Implemented in : Gettorf

Country : Germany

Initial investment : 67,000 €

The full recovery of an unused public building, as an engine of transformation in a rural municipality through a participatory process.

Implemented in : Kuartango (Álava)

Country :

Initial investment : 1,563,500 €

Small rural producers joining forces to sell through a shared farmers market and online shop.

Implemented in : South Estonia

Country : Estonia

Initial investment : 25,500 €

Harnessing citizen finance to restore wine production in abandoned vineyards aimed at agricultural production and nature conservation.

Implemented in : Obernhof and Weinähr

Country : Germany

Initial investment : 33,000 €

The use of sensors to inform decisions on the use of water and fertiliser and to optimise timings in the growing and harvesting of grapes.

Implemented in : Nemea, Region of Corinthia

Country : Greece

Initial investment : 40,000 €

A collaborative space, offering not only co-working offices and desks, but a ‘creative laboratory’ providing access to high-end new technologies such as 3D printers, laser cutters and recording studios.

Implemented in : Waidhofen an der Ybbs

Country : Austria

Initial investment : 978,502 €

A training programme aimed at community members interested in developing skills in coding and computer programming that delivers a community smartphone app as a result.

Implemented in : Alsunga

Country : Latvia

Initial investment : 156 €

The interactive story map is a village walking map on which information and stories from the village can be listened to with QR codes.

Implemented in : Schendelbeke

Country : Belgium – Flanders

Initial investment : 6,961 €

A searchable network of public and private distance-working facilities available for rent.

Implemented in : Kupland Network, South-east Estonia (Võru, Valga, Põlva County)

Country : Estonia

Initial investment : 70,000 €

The solution consists in the selling of local and organic food and other products without packaging in different rural locations from a mobile truck.

Implemented in : Loches

Country : France

Initial investment : 49,000 €

A community building serving as a multifunctional digital hub, which provides broadband internet connection, a range of rooms and spaces and support services for individuals or companies in the area.

Implemented in : Arvieu

Country : France

Initial investment : 960,000 €

An Instagram business page enabling rural small businesses to promote and market local products and services, improving their competitiveness.

Implemented in : Alentejo Central

Country : Portugal

Initial investment : 0 €

An electric car is made available in the village for short-term rent at low cost. A charging point is also provided, supplied by a photovoltaic carport.

Implemented in : Villerouge-Termenès

Country : France

Initial investment : 177,656 €

A combination of a meeting place (café) and venue for workshops with a shop where children’s second-hand items are displayed and sold.

Implemented in : Meensel-Kiezegem

Country : Belgium – Flanders

Initial investment : 2,750 €

A local irrigation system that involves the collection and filtering of rainwater pumped to agricultural land using solar and wind-powered pumps.

Implemented in : Tomaszyn

Country : Poland

Initial investment : 40,000 €

Decontamination and sustainable management of a village landfill site to generate energy and provide a usable space for community activities.

Implemented in : Peccioli

Country : Italy

Initial investment : 2,000,000 €

A children’s bike lending and swapping service, through which parents with young children get access to children’s bicycles at a very low cost.

Implemented in : Herselt

Country : Belgium – Flanders

Initial investment : 2,500 €

A resident-led process of taking desolate/abandoned rural housing and upcycling it into new houses in suitable village locations.

Implemented in : Rautajärvi

Country : Finland

Initial investment : 26,500 €

Installation of a scattered network of solar panels on roofs and terraces within a village through a community-led process.

Implemented in : Melpignano

Country : Italy

Initial investment : 400,000 €

Providing mediation between vacant homeowners and potential new tenants, making it easier for young people, new residents and families to live in unused or semi-empty housing intended for tourist use.

Implemented in : Ansó

Country :

Initial investment : 2,600 €

A school catering initiative that prioritises the supply of locally produced organic food without additional costs.

Implemented in : Mouans-Sartoux

Country : France

Initial investment : 0 €

Hosting cinema screenings and before-and-after social activities in the village library – or other municipal building.

Implemented in : Katymár

Country : Hungary

Initial investment : 6,886 €

A network of tourism enterprises committed to principles of ecotourism and delivering joint initiatives such as destination marketing.

Implemented in : Burren Ecotourism Network

Country : Ireland

Initial investment : 0 €

Ride-sharing benches are equipped with signs of destinations that local people can hold up in order to get a free ride from a passing vehicle heading in the same direction.

Implemented in : Grafing

Country : Germany

Initial investment : 6,000 €

Returning land from private to communal ownership under a secure and permanent legal structure, supported by training and guidance to develop holistically sustainable communities.

Implemented in : Tärkkilä

Country : Finland

Initial investment : 2,100 €

Small-scale, community-owned solar energy parks using locally sourced timber to support the photovoltaic panels.

Implemented in : Carayac, Lot, Occitany

Country : France

Initial investment : 220,000 €

A community-led initiative enabling access to local produce through an open-source digital farmers-market platform – provided by the Open Food Network (OFN).

Implemented in : Cloughjordan, County Tipperary

Country : Ireland

Initial investment : 7,400 €

Local farm products are packaged into one ‘Village in a box’ twice a year and sold to local consumers.

Implemented in : Schriek, Heist-op-den-Berg municipality

Country : Belgium – Flanders

Initial investment : 0 €

Offering a range of local housing as accommodation for tourists through a shared online platform, together with local produce and activities.

Implemented in : Sauris/Zahre

Country : Italy

Initial investment : 0 €

Remote monitoring of biomedical parameters in the elderly based on digital communication between equipment.

Implemented in : Sabugueiro

Country : Portugal

Initial investment : 40,000 €

Users (from anywhere in the world) can adopt an olive tree in the village via the online platform adoptanolivetree.org, with the money raised being used at local level to recover abandoned olive groves.

Implemented in : Oliete

Country :

Initial investment : 80,000 €

A not-for-profit, volunteer driven community project supporting remote working opportunities at local level in rural areas

Implemented in : Tubbercurry and South Sligo

Country : Ireland

Initial investment : 0 €

Adapted village infrastructure, ICT tools and branding to become an ‘accessible village’ for people with disabilities as an engine for cultural, social and economic growth.

Implemented in : Monteverde

Country : Italy

Initial investment : 4,750,000 €

A small-scale physical installation that is fed with local food and garden waste to generate biogas energy for cooking and heating

Implemented in : Suderbyn Permaculture Ecovillage

Country : Sweden

Initial investment : 5,000 €

A production unit concept, elaborated in the field of bioeconomy, which integrates several state-of-the-art technologies: aquaponics; aquaculture; soil borehole heat pumps + solar panels; insect breeding; and hydroponics.

Implemented in : Törökkoppány, Hungary

Country : Hungary

Initial investment : 152,000 €

Digital remote education in the village school through digital technology and local collaboration with the nearest town.

Implemented in : Eskola

Country : Finland

Initial investment : 4,250 €

The creation by villagers of their own fibre-optic network for high-speed data transfer.

Implemented in : Raudanmaa

Country : Finland

Initial investment : 399,160 €

A 10-day residency for 80 participants from different creative and professional backgrounds, focused on exploring ways to revive village identity and local territorial development.

Implemented in : Morigerati

Country : Italy

Initial investment : 22,000 €

Use of ICT technologies and specialised equipment in the water system to monitor remotely the quality and quantity of the drinking water, to locate malfunctions and reduce losses.

Implemented in : Kythera

Country : Greece

Initial investment : 1,891,577 €