(26 September 2018) – The expansion of e-tools in rural areas will enable villages to become more agile, make better use of their resources as well as improve their attractiveness and the quality of life of rural residents, argue MEPs Franc Bogovič (EPP) and Tibor Szanyi (S&D).
10 billion euros from Horizon Europe, reserved for innovation in agriculture can be one of the main tools for financing research projects, connected to the smart village philosophy. But the strategic advantage of the smart village objectives is that our vision is dispersed throughout several legislative proposals and EU funds.
Our main goal needs to be to establish the connection between these funds. A good example for this is the EU funded LEADER programme, which is designed to support rural businesses and to create jobs and support the rural economy, in the SME sector.
The cooperation between research and private sector will be crucial for the smart villages to succeed. Our hope is that a small number of best-case scenarios will serve as examples and final convincing factor, to persuade investors to match the EU funds ready to be dispersed for smart villages and thereby the revitalisation of rural areas throughout our beautiful continent. (EurActiv)