Smart Villages in EU Policy: How to Match Innovativeness and Pragmatism?
Smart Villages in EU Policy: How to Match Innovativeness and Pragmatism?

Summary/Abstract: Smart Villages is an approach to rural development which has been underdiscussion in the EU as one of the subthemes that the ENRD is working on. For thisreason, the Thematic Group (TG) on Smart Villages was launched in 2017. Since then ithas been contributing to the definition of smart villages, discussing the changes in ruraldevelopment policy and opportunities for providing support for smart villages, exchangingexperience and best practices in smart rural development, and serving as a forum fordialogue between various rural stakeholders. This paper outlines the discussion heldduring the selected meetings of the TG and briefly indicates the academic backgroundof the approach discussed. Its aim was to present Smart Villages in terms of EU policy.Hence, the paper presents the genesis of the EU debate, highlights some of the dilemmasof the definition of smart villages, indicates the role of the territorial governments andthe EU in creating the conditions for implementing the approach, and shows the selectedexamples of smart rural development. Smart Villages is an alternative way of thinkingabout the quality of rural life, and it seems to respond to the way the EU policy is evolving.However, it calls for better tailored tools and instruments, which applies both to EU policiesand national/regional sources. It also calls for regional and local governments to play theirrole in the process.

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