RurALL

Date/time
Date(s) - 01/07/2024 - 30/06/2026
All day

Project type

• Slovak projects

Selected participants

Achieving the EU’s ambitious goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent laid down in the European Green Deal and transforming the Long-term Rural Vision into reality will require decisive local action and the support and active engagement of rural communities and citizens. RurALL is a project founded on the belief that ‘citizen participation is citizen power’. Our goal is to boost rural citizen participation in climate and environment-related public discussions, actions, and policymaking by reaching and involving rural citizens who are currently inactive in or disappointed by existing local or EU-level policymaking.

In line with the concrete needs of rural communities, the specific objectives of the project are:

– Gather information about the knowledge and attitude of rural target groups regarding the EU’s relevant climate policy actions 
– Map local environmental challenges in order to design effective, place-based solutions
– Educate target groups about the impact of climate change on rural areas, relevant national and EU policies, their participation rights, and available participatory and engagement methods
– Introduce, test, and implement different creative and innovative community engagement and participatory methods and tools to increase citizen action in environmental matters
– Reach and mobilize new groups of rural citizens in local and EU-level environmental actions and discussions
– Collect and exchange best practices regarding effective rural environmental participatory methods
– Raise awareness of local environmental challenges and pathways to rural eco activism
– Provide a platform for rural citizens to communicate their insights and recommendations to local policymakers
– Empower and encourage local citizens to launch and participate in local co-designed activities related to their environment and take on an active role in the green transition

The chosen activities with the underlying participatory methods and approaches are:
1. Research, survey, symposium – collecting citizens’ views, informing policymakers of research results and citizen concerns, consultations
2. Educational training – awareness raising, information sharing, better understanding of EU and national climate-related policies, capacity building
3. Decision-making modeling and simulation workshop – gamification, simulation, participatory budgeting, social sensitization
4. Hackathon – ideation, collaboration, peer-learning, co-design
5. Eco placemaking – sustainable co-design, collaboration, bottom-up community building, community-led local interventions
6. Visual storytelling – social communications, digital activism
7. Virtual town hall meeting – direct engagement with policymakers, policy recommendations by rural citizens

Our main target groups are local rural citizens in designated rural areas in the project countries. While we would like to ensure inclusivity and open access during our activities, we would specifically like to reach and engage:

1. Rural youths: We have chosen to focus on rural youth as they tend to be more invested in environmental issues and they are also key to the continued prosperity of rural areas.
2. Local NGOs, volunteers, and activists: mostly active in environmental and community building issues, they have a significant influence in their communities and can serve as mobilizing forces for other citizens.
3. Local farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs: they are particularly affected by climate change thus their involvement is crucial for green transition.
4. Rural women: as rural women tend to be underrepresented in local decision- and policymaking, we will pay special attention to reaching and involving them in trainings and community actions.
5. Local communities and other citizens: will benefit from the trainings and workshops as they will acquireskills and knowledge that enable them to better participate in the decision-making processes that impact their lives and communities.

We would like to guide rural citizens through different stages of participation from awareness raising and information through community action to engagement with policymakers. In the project activities, we will test, implement, and promote innovative citizen engagement and participatory methods among rural target audiences in five EU Member States (Hungary, Slovakia, France, Portugal, and Spain). Our goal is to educate and mobilize new groups of rural citizens in local and EU-level environmental actions and policymaking, show pathways to rural eco activism, and empower and encourage local citizens to launch and participate in local co-designed activities related to their environment and take on an active role in the green transition.