On 10 September 2024, a regional stakeholder meeting was held at the offices of the Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS) in Frankfurt am Main, as part of the INSPIRE Interreg Europe project. The meeting brought together key representatives from various institutions involved in regional development and rural innovation in Hesse.
The meeting saw the participation of stakeholders from different sectors, including government, education, and research organization. Representatives from the Hessian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy, Transport, Housing, and Rural Development were present, along with delegates from the Hessian Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.. Other key attendees included members of the Lahn-Dill Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Academy for Rural Areas Hesse, and the Hessian Regional Forums LEADER.
Participants were introduced to the project by Simone Sterly and Christoph Mathias, project partners from the Institute for Rural Development Research. The meeting also featured contributions from Mercedes Bindhardt of the LEADER Region Lahn-Dill-Wetzlar and IfLS representatives Hanna Kramer and Dr. Ulrich Gehrlein.
Key Discussion Points
The primary focus was to introduce the Smart Villages concept, presented by experts as a model for combining social and digital innovation, and to explore its potential role within Hesse's broader framework of regional and rural development. The meeting allowed participants to share their views on rural development and the role of digital transformation in rural areas.
Stakeholders discussed various entry points for integrating Smart Village concepts into regional development strategies. This included potential areas of collaboration in digital consulting, education, and the development of policy instruments. Emphasis was placed on the importance of regional adaptation, ensuring that Smart Village initiatives reflect the specific needs of local communities.
One of the main challenges highlighted during the meeting was the tension between regional and state-wide priorities. While regional development initiatives like LEADER have embraced some aspects of digitalization, there are varying levels of understanding and acceptance of the Smart Village concept across different stakeholders. Participants discussed how the Smart Village concept could complement the existing LEADER program, which already considers digitalization as a cross-cutting objective. However, many agreed that digitalization efforts under LEADER in Hesse have so far lacked a strategic approach and have only been partially implemented in project development.
Additionally, the meeting touched on the challenges of engaging rural communities, where there is often skepticism or fear toward digitalization. This underscores the need for tailored approaches that build trust and highlight the benefits of smart solutions for local development.
The regional stakeholder meeting marks an important step towards strengthening collaboration and advancing rural innovation in Hesse. However, more work is needed to raise awareness and integrate digitalization more effectively into regional policies. To achieve this, the next meeting will focus on best practices, with presentations from the project partners at IfLS and the LEADER-Region Lahn-Dill-Wetzlar, aiming to make the concept more tangible and applicable to local contexts.
