How to support the rural green transition

From this webinar, we can highlight some key insights for local and regional policy-makers:

• Rural regions contain natural resources, biodiversity and ecosystem services required to sustain our lives, and there is an urgent need to reduce emissions from their industries (agri-food, for example), as well as respond to climate change and droughts which threaten these industries.
  
  The transition requires tackling land-use, ecosystem services, renewable energy, and decarbonised transport, as well as supporting the circular and bio-economy. There is often a trade-off that needs to be finely balanced, for example, food or biomass growth, solar and wind farms or unblemished landscapes.
   
• Rural areas, however, have significant opportunities in the low-carbon transition. Specifically, they have significant resource and space availability needed for bioenergy, hydropower, and wind energy. But they also often have a strong sense of tradition, self-sufficiency, and community, which can enable initiatives such as renewable energy co-operatives.
   
• Rural areas need tailored approaches that take account of both their challenges and their strengths, while also respecting ecological boundaries. The approaches taken in urban areas are not directly transferable to rural areas, where conditions and resources are different. A collaborative and place-based approach reflecting local interests, circumstances and location can accelerate the implementation of low-carbon strategies.
   
• Very remote areas face specific challenges of insufficient local services, poor accessibility and connectivity, and poor economic prospects. Low-carbon interventions can help to improve quality of life and keep these areas vibrant to prevent population decline.
   
• Public authorities in rural areas often lack the capacity to develop and implement low-carbon strategies – capacity building, knowledge exchange and awareness raising are therefore essential. Integrated strategies (such as SECAPs) for multiple municipalities can achieve high impact by allowing municipalities to pool resources in the development, implementation, and monitoring of actions.
   
• Marketing and communication are also needed towards citizens, to make them aware of available opportunities and to change behaviour. This can also include participatory planning to ensure that services are really reaching the needs of citizens.
   
• Renewable energy communities, such as the Energy Community of Karditsa (ESEK), are excellent ways to involve citizens in the energy transition, and rural areas have particular strengths for such initiatives, including space and access to renewable resources. ESEK, launched in 2012 to make use of local residues, has been supported by the BE-COOP project to expand its activities to use other biomass resources for new products and services.
  
  The project has developed a self-assessment tool for other regions to assess the current status and future potential of community bioenergy, an e-market for connecting supply chain stakeholders, a Knowledge Exchange Platform, and a toolkit of other available tools.
   
• Agriculture is a highly resource-intensive industry, becoming ever more intensive as food demand increases. Greenhouses, which are widely used, are often fossil-fuel powered to maintain temperatures, but also use a lot of water and other resources. The MED Greenhouse project set out to transfer innovative greenhouses in the Mediterranean region by developing recommendations to boost investment, establishing an Agricultural Innovative Cluster, and supporting knowledge transfer.
  
  The project led to the construction of new, sustainable greenhouses with natural heating, cooling and hydroponics that significantly increased produced yield and reduced carbon emissions.
   
• Low-carbon transport is a particular challenge for rural areas. Inhabitants often feel that car ownership is a requirement, as sparse populations mean public transport companies must run limited services. However, many regions are exploring on-demand transport services, as well as low-carbon last mile solutions to get from transport hubs.
  
  East Tirol in Austria has developed a comprehensive package of interventions, including demand-responsive bus routes, e-carsharing, buses for touristic activities, e-bike rental and a municipal taxi, driven by volunteers to encourage reduced use of private vehicles. The region is currently integrating solutions into a single mobility platform as a first step towards Mobility as a Service, containing all information on available services.
   
• Public authorities should take advantage of opportunities to learn from other regions which have already begun the transition, through Interreg Europe projects and the Policy Learning Platform which can offer on-demand expert support through peer reviews and matchmakings.
   
• As well as IRENES and LAST MILE, a number of Interreg Europe projects have worked on the rural transition, including AgroRES, BIO4ECO, DeCarb, DESTI-SMART and RESOR. These projects, amongst others, have informed Policy Learning Platform activities, including: