In-situ project events will take place in 5 different countries – Hungary, Slovakia, France, Spain, and Portugal. The project builds cooperation between different organizations in five countries through knowledge transfer, exchange of best practices, and the development of joint research and training
methodologies. It also includes international knowledge exchange opportunities with other organizations and stakeholders, like the online symposium. As our project addresses common European challenges (green transition, rural participation), it has a real transnational significance. While Europe’s rural areas are very diverse with unique natural and climate conditions, heritage, demographic, economic, cultural, and social characteristics, and national and regional specificities, we think there is a real possibility to use the results in other countries for two main reasons. First, we have selected our project rural areas to reflect this diversity - while all of them can be classified as rural, there are real variations in terms of climate challenges, climate awareness, economic status, and level of citizen participation.
In France, the project activities will be implemented in the South West, in the Pyrenées Atlantique province (département). If we exclude the Atlantic coast with Biarritz and the main city of the province, Pau, the entire area is rural, including a large part of the Pyrenees valleys. It is composed of small villages gathering less than 200 inhabitants each (more than 500 villages). The economy is based on agriculture and tourism (mostly in the mountains). The area is one of the most vulnerable to climate change and is affected by extreme weather events, like floods, lack of snow, and drought against which the level of engagement seems very low and slow. One of the reasons is the lack of local cooperation within and among villages.
In Hungary, project activities will focus on Komárom-Esztergom County, which is located in the North-Western part of Hungary, in the Central Transdanubian region, and situated on the south bank of the Danube. The county has 1 urban county, 11 towns, 3 large villages, and 61 villages. The local economy is built on the automotive sector, logistics, chemical sectors, energy production (including renewables), natural resources extraction, and food production. It is highly vulnerable to drought, water loss, air pollution, and soil degradation. The county has a long-term climate strategy, which is a good starting point for widespread strategic planning and collaboration, however, as the strategy itself emphasizes, while the level of climate awareness among the county population is adequate, participation and active engagement is low. This is why grassroots initiatives, sensitization, empowerment, and involvement of local people on issues of local relevance in the preparation of climate change decisions are very important in Hungary.
In Portugal, project activities will take place in two areas designated by the two partner organizations. ANP|WWF project activities will be implemented in the Boticas municipality in northern Portugal. This is a predominantly rural area (5000-10000 residents in 323 km2), located in between two important protected areas and Natura 2000 sites but outside of them. It is also part of the Barroso Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral System, which is classified as a FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System. ANP|WWF would like to raise awareness and launch community actions of ecological restoration and this area is well suited for that, as they already have an ecological restoration project running there, which can be showcased.
In Portugal, project activities will take place in two areas designated by the two partner organizations.
Raiz Minhota Cooperativa’s project events will focus on the Alto Minho region, which is a Portuguese sub-region located in the northwest, belonging to the North region. It is bordered to the south by the District of Braga, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the north and east by Spain. Classified as a rural area, it comprises of ten municipalities and 208 parishes with a total extension of 2,219 km2, 231,293 inhabitants in 2021, and a population density of 104 inhabitants per km2. Alto Minho is in the set of European NUTS III with greater environmental sensitivity to climate change. Forest fires, coastal erosion, cold waves, and floods are some of the risks associated with the region's environmental problems. In Alto Minho, municipalities have been mobilizing to invest in surveillance systems, risk assessment, prevention, and response to the phenomenon of climate change. However, and observing the main risks, the programming of local actions should consider the establishment of participatory models based on access to public information about the different risks, monitoring at the territorial level, as well as empowering communities to intervene in their territory, mostly of forest occupation.
In Slovakia, project activities will be implemented in rural areas in the East, which is a highly disadvantaged part of the country, far from the capital, with significantly fewer economic opportunities. In Rural Voices, Slovakian respondents stressed the need for more local community action, more cooperation between rural stakeholders, and more capacity-building regarding active citizenship.
In Spain, project events will be implemented in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The Country has a diverse variety of rural areas, including agricultural valleys, livestock areas, historical and cultural villages, rural tourism centers, nature reserves and protected areas, and traditional agricultural communities. In recent years, there has been an increase in the adoption of ecological and sustainable agricultural practices in rural areas of the Basque Country. Some rural areas are also undergoing a process of economic diversification and rural development, focusing on organic farming, handicrafts, and cultural tourism. The new Basque Law on Rural Development has a rural proofing approach and considers the sustainable development of the Basque rural environment as a fundamental factor in the development and economic, social, and territorial cohesion of the Basque Country as a whole.