RUSTIK at the 10th EUGEO Congress: Exploring Rural Transitions in a Changing Europe

The RUSTIK project will contribute to the upcoming 10th EUGEO Congress, taking place from 8–11 September 2025 at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Under the theme “Geographies of a Changing Europe”, the event will bring together geographers from across the continent to address Europe’s complex territorial and social transformations. 

RUSTIK is taking part in the scientific programme with Session 106: The relevance of diverse information collection in research on transition of rural areas, scheduled for Wednesday, 10 September 2025 (09:00–10:30). The session is chaired by Prof. Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak and Prof. Jerzy Bański, and features contributions from RUSTIK Living Labs in Austria, Slovenia, Serbia, and Poland. 

Session Focus: How We Know What We Know 

The aim of the session is to explore the role that different data collection methods—both quantitative and qualitative—play in shaping how knowledge is built around rural transitions. Rather than focusing solely on the findings of research, the session will spotlight the “how”: how data is gathered, how participatory methods are implemented, and how research processes influence both the outcomes and the territories themselves. 

Drawing on experiences from RUSTIK’s pilot regions, participants will discuss how data collection tools and methods affect participatory action research, and reflect on questions of transferability, universality, and replicability. The session invites a methodological dialogue on the tools and approaches that can meaningfully support the transitions of rural and peri-urban areas across Europe. 

Presentations from RUSTIK Partners 
  1. Combining Data and Stakeholder Engagement to Support Rural Transitions
    Living Lab: Nockregion-Oberkärnten, Austria
    Karin Schroll, Daria Ernst, Ingrid Machold (Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research)
    A mixed-methods approach to mapping and understanding the role of small rural businesses, with a focus on spatial data and participatory validation through mapping workshops. 
  2. Supporting Social Entrepreneurship and Food Redistribution: A Modelling Approach
    Living Lab: Osrednjeslovenska, Slovenia
    Matic Soklič, Emil Erjavec, Ilona Rac (University of Ljubljana)
    Development of a system dynamics model connecting food redistribution to social impact, combining logistics data with qualitative insights from a social cooperative. 
  3. A Living Lab Approach in Functional Rural Areas
    Living Lab: Radomski Subregion, Poland
    Marcin Mazur, Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak (Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization PAS)
    An exploration of methodological experimentation in a socially challenged region, highlighting the integration of bottom-up knowledge and formal data sources. 
  4. Developing an Inclusive Short Food Supply Chain to Meet Tourism Demand
    Living Lab: Zaječar District, Serbia
    Natalija Bogdanov, Saša Todorović (University of Belgrade – Faculty of Agriculture)
    Use of surveys, social network analysis, and spatial mapping to connect local food producers with tourism demand, aiming to build resilient, short supply chains. 

The session supports RUSTIK’s overarching goal to co-produce data-driven and context-sensitive knowledge that empowers rural communities and informs better policy-making. Participation in the EUGEO Congress offers a valuable opportunity to engage with the broader geographical research community on methods, practices, and the future of rural transitions in Europe. 

Empowering Szydłowiecki Powiat: Unleashing Potential Through Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Exciting times ahead for Szydłowiecki Powiat! Join us as we embark on a journey of entrepreneurship, innovation, and community empowerment. Together, let's unlock the region's hidden potential and pave the way for a brighter future.

Nestled in the south-western corner of the Mazowieckie voivodeship lies the Szydłowiecki powiat. A district brimming with potential yet facing its fair share of socio-economic and demographic challenges. With a strategic position along the vital S7 express road, connecting major cities like Warsaw and Kraków, this region holds promise for development. However, to harness this potential fully, a transition from a traditional farming-based economy to a more diversified and modern economic landscape is imperative.

Challenges and Opportunities:

The main challenge facing the Szydłowiecki powiat is its transition from a predominantly agrarian economy to one that is more production and consumption-oriented. This transition demands not only economic restructuring but also an increase in spatial mobility and job opportunities. Despite its strategic location, economic dynamics have been sluggish, leading to high unemployment rates, particularly among the youth. Moreover, the district grapples with population outflow, aging demographics, and infrastructure deficiencies.

However, within these challenges lie opportunities for growth. The Living Lab initiative aims to tap into these opportunities by focusing on entrepreneurship development, leveraging the region’s natural resources, cultural heritage, and strengthening local networks. With five municipalities, each with its unique strengths and proximity to urban centers, there’s potential for economic revitalization.

Living Lab: A Path to Transformation:

The Living Lab initiative seeks to address these challenges head-on by fostering entrepreneurship, promoting local heritage, and enhancing connectivity. By harnessing natural resources like sandstone, iron ore, and chocolate flint abundant in Orońsko municipality, the region can drive economic and social development. Additionally, raising awareness about local cultural heritage and traditions can attract tourism and stimulate local businesses.

Research Questions and Data Needs:

To guide this transformative journey, several research questions need to be addressed:

  • What are the essential components of local development potential?
  • Which best practices from other regions can be adapted to address local challenges?
  • What new data sources and collection methods are needed to understand the local challenge better?
  • Which data is essential to develop a local index of entrepreneurship development potential?

Empowering through Data and Collaboration:

Access to diverse data sources and collaboration among stakeholders are crucial for informed decision-making. The Living Lab will leverage secondary data, spatial information, primary data from surveys and interviews, and additional tools like Maptionnaire to fill existing data gaps. Collaboration with local communities, businesses, research institutions, and public administrations will ensure that solutions are tailored to real needs and expectations.

Building Capacities for Success:

Success in this endeavor requires building partnerships, digital competencies, and openness to modern marketing trends. By embracing innovation, creative solutions, and fostering partnerships, the Living Lab aims to unlock the full potential of Szydłowiecki powiat.

In conclusion, the Living Lab initiative holds the key to unlock the latent potential of Szydłowiecki powiat. Through entrepreneurship, leveraging natural resources, and preserving cultural heritage, this region can pave the way for sustainable development and prosperity. With collaborative efforts and data-driven insights, the journey towards transformation begins, promising a brighter future for generations to come.

The 14 RUSTIK Living Labs actors meet in Barcelona to foster knowledge exchange

 

The Pilot Region Kick-off was held in February 2023, and it was RUSTIK’s first in-person knowledge exchange, training, and networking event for partners from the 14 Pilot Regions. The event took place over two days in Barcelona and Osona in Catalonia.

During the Pilot Region Kick-off event, attendees had the opportunity to increase their understanding of the RUSTIK project and interact with the project coordinators. They also delved into how the Pilot Regions could add value to the initiative and gained indispensable knowledge for implementing RUSTIK’s approaches. It was also the first opportunity for exchanging ideas and insights with partners from 14 distinct rural regions across ten states.

During the first day of the meeting, the RUSTIK project was introduced, and the attendees learned about the key concepts that will play a key role throughout the project’s duration and began exploring how these concepts could be put into practice in their respective pilot regions. On the second day, the focus shifted from ideas to action. The attendees comprehended what to anticipate and accomplish as they started to put into action a RUSTIK Living Lab in their pilot regions.

The interactive workshops enabled the attendees to have a direct conversation with the leads in charge of each of the upcoming tasks in the Living Lab. They had the chance to ask questions and provide feedback about the topics covered, which included doing background research on their respective pilot regions led by Franco Mantino (CREA), identifying existing data and data needs led by Andreu Ulied (MCRIT), setting up and assessing their Living Lab led by Janet Dwyer (CCRI), and creating a policy panorama for their pilot region led by Petri Kahila and Juha Halme (UEF).

Our hosts in Catalonia

The hosts for the event were MCRIT and the Ersilia Foundation. On the first day, we visited Sant Miquel de Balenyà, one of RUSTIK’s 14 pilot regions. The town had been established after a train station was built in the area in 1875, and it now has 1,353 residents. The nearby Parc Natural de Montseny is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The wider region, Osona (with a population of 165,229), is renowned for its sausages and has a ratio of over six pigs per person.

RUSTIK will run 14 Living Labs to foster sustainability transitions in rural communities

RUSTIK (Rural Sustainability Transitions through Integration of Knowledge for improved policy processes) is a four-year transdisciplinary research project. The project aims to enable rural communities’ actors and policymakers to design better strategies, initiatives and policies fostering sustainability transitions of rural areas.

The project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, envisages an analysis of current adaption requirements and the support of effective rural policy-making processes for a better understanding of the different rural functionalities and characteristics as well as the potentials and challenges of rural areas. Environment, climate-energy, socio-economic and digital will be the key transition pathways studied in the project.

Living Labs in 14 European Pilot Regions in 10 European countries will be the central element to generate new insights into rural diversity and societal transformations. RUSTIK’s Living Labs will work on the identification of new data, methods of data collection, combined with current data sources to set up relevant indicators. The project will also focus on data integration and dissemination, to make information and analysis accessible and valuable for actors and policymakers; and to improve rural impact assessment. The final goal is to enhance policy strategies and governance structures. To do so, 3 sequential phases: situational review, data experimentation, and policy learning are envisaged.

This week the academic partners of the project got together for the kick-off meeting organised in Frankfurt by the project coordinator, the Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS).

A multidisciplinary consortium
The consortium involves 30 partner organisations. Eight universities and four research institutes are providing scientific expertise within the fields of rural development, spatial planning and reporting, policy process, climate change and sustainability; two knowledge-based SMEs contribute to this with ready-to-apply technologies and approaches; and two NGOs act as intermediaries between university resp. SMEs.

Local and regional embedded partners ensure a practice-oriented implementation of the project. This comprises partners from five local or regional public administration, two local action groups (LAGs), three business associations and three regional development agencies.

Two European umbrella organisation representing rural mountainous stakeholders and regions, Euromontana,, and the European LEADER association for rural development, ELARD, are key multipliers towards other European regions and particularly support the dissemination towards the European Union.

The consortium efforts will contribute to enhancing existing European policy tools and approaches, most of all to support the European Green Deal, the European Digital Strategy, the European Pillar of Social Rights and the EU Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas of the European Union, the EU Cohesion policy, the common agricultural policy, and, in particular, the European agricultural guarantee fund (EAGF).

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