A New Vision for Rural Europe: RUDI Project Kicks Off in Austria
From 23 to 25 June 2026, representatives of twenty organisations from eight European countries gathered in Reichenau an der Rax, Austria, to launch RUDI – Rural Innovation to Address Demographic and Climate Challenges. Funded under Horizon Europe, the four-year initiative brings together universities, research institutes, municipalities, cooperatives, and civil society organisations in a shared commitment: to help rural Europe not just withstand demographic and climate pressures, but to thrive because of the innovation they inspire.
Over three days of collaborative work, the consortium moved from getting to know one another to building the practical foundations of the project ahead – a rare and energising mix of warmth and rigour. Partners mapped the realities facing their eight regions, aligned on shared timelines, and voiced both their hopes and their concerns for the years ahead, laying an honest and grounded basis for the work to come.
RUDI will establish eight Rural Innovation Clusters and their associated Rural Living Labs – participatory hubs where municipalities, SMEs, social economy actors, civil society, and researchers will co-design and test real solutions, from cooperative care models to circular agri-food systems and climate-resilient mobility. A dedicated Demography–Climate Dashboard and Policy Support Package will translate this local innovation into evidence-based tools for decision-makers, while a Network for Rural Transformation and cascade funding scheme will carry successful ideas across regions and borders.
The kick-off meeting made one thing clear: this is a consortium that sees rural transformation not as a challenge to be managed, but as an opportunity to be built together. Over the next four years, RUDI will contribute directly to the EU’s Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas, the Rural Pact, and the European Green Deal – turning shared values of solidarity, inclusion, and resilience into concrete change on the ground.
The RUDI Consortium
Coordinated by the Zentrum für Soziale Innovation GmbH (ZSI, Austria), with 19 partner organisations:
1. Zentrum für Soziale Innovation GmbH (ZSI) – Coordinator — Austria
2. Universität Graz (UNI GRAZ) — Austria
3. Instituto Politécnico de Viseu (IPV) — Portugal
4. Stichting Wageningen Research (WR) — Netherlands
5. Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde eV (IfL) — Germany
6. Uniwersytet Rolniczy im. Hugona Kołłątaja w Krakowie (UAK) — Poland
7. Università degli Studi di Milano (UMIL) — Italy
8. Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski (UNISOFIA) — Bulgaria
9. Latvijas Universitāte (LU) — Latvia
10. DIESIS Network — Belgium
11. Global Ecovillage Network of Europe eV (GEN Europe) — Germany
12. Compañía Maximalista S. Coop. (MXT-Coop) — Spain
13. ÖBV-Via Campesina Austria (OBV) — Austria
14. Minha Terra – Federação Portuguesa de Associações de Desenvolvimento Local (FMT) — Portugal
15. Stichting Soil Valley — Netherlands
16. Plattform eV (PFeV) — Germany
17. Centrum Kultury Gminy Ciężkowice (CKiPG) — Poland
18. Kurzemes Plānošanas Reģions (KPR) — Latvia
19. Ture Nirvane Società Cooperativa Sociale di Comunità — Italy
20. Stoynova Koleva Mariyana (MK Farm) — Bulgaria
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Media contact: Maja Flajsig, communications@gen-europe.org
High-resolution photos from the kick-off meeting are available here or on request.
