Our project closing event will be a virtual town hall meeting, an online event with 150-200 participants from all 5 project countries, where rural residents can communicate their views, concerns, and recommendations to policy- and decision-makers on local environmental and climate-related matters that are important to them. The agenda will include discussions about rural and environmental-related policy issues and recommendations, with special emphasis on local rural development action plans, the EU’s Rural Action Plan, and the European Green Deal. Participants will also be able to ask questions of officials, while policymakers will have a direct opportunity to learn about citizen concerns, issues, and feedback.

The different virtual town halls will happen in different sections in national languages to avoid language-related participation barriers, while a final closing section in English will discuss project conclusions, best practices, and future initiatives and steps. The town hall will be open to previous project event participants as well as any interested local citizens, invited policymakers will be from local municipalities, national policymakers from the field of environment and rural development, and representatives of the EU. The town hall will provide rural citizens with a direct link to policymakers and will enable them to use the skills and knowledge they acquired during other project activities to deepen their engagement with the policymaking process.

Effective citizen participation depends on many factors, including knowledge, skills, people’s confidence, motivation, inclusion, and impactful access to policymakers. Our vision is that our project activities help rural citizens learn about solutions, tools, and techniques that can be applied in their own lives to help them become climate-conscious and active citizens, whose voices are heard by policymakers, so together they can build a more sustainable and prosperous rural future.