Enablers
RURBANIVE will develop Rural-Urban Enablers – innovations in six domains known to favour bi-directional urban-rural synergies and building up well-being economies. Extended reality will be used to realize immersiveness and through an integrated platform that stores the main project results, the rural/urban stakeholders will be equipped with the appropriate tools to develop their cultural literacy and sensitivity in an inclusive setup supporting experimentation and innovation.
Improving logistics, and shortening value chains
Domain: The domain refers to the flow of resources between rural communities and urban hubs, investigating new ways by which reciprocal growth can be achieved.
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
RUE: A socially driven digital platform to educate and popularise the food industry for the general public.
A unique technology centre has been established in Prague to educate and popularise the food industry for the general public – Agricultural processing training centre. The learning centre offers a hands-on experience of the whole chain of operations in the production of a wide range of foodstuffs. From the principles of agriculture itself, animal and plant production, through variant ways of technological processing of primary raw materials to launching the final product on the market. Practical training enables learning various techniques for processing meat, milk, cereals, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants. The comprehensive concept of food production technologies is rounded off with an introduction to analytical evaluation in the sensory laboratory or nutritional and dietary advice.
Ecosystem and biodiversity restoration
Domain: Ecosystem and biodiversity restoration of degraded, arid soil ecosystems, like quarrying operations, targets in local plant community re-installation (drought tolerant plant species) and integration of natural and agricultural ecosystems in a uniform landscape by introducing novel, microbiome-based, restoration technologies and processes.
Location: Milos, Greece
RUE: Quarry Restoration with Mediterranean biome adapted plants & crops, and a Botanical Path tour.
Quarrying operations cause irreversible damage to the local environment, creating vast degradation problems, including fertile soil depletion, vegetation removal, and alterations in the original topography. Restoration practitioners aim to restore ecosystem functions by re-installing plants, focusing on recreating specific plant communities based on historical, reference, or desirable output. This RUE will develop three Actions:
- Action 1: Quarry Restoration with Mediterranean biome adapted plants.
- Action 2: Quarry Restoration with Mediterranean biome adapted crops T activities.
- Action 3: Botanical Path tour
Regional circular bioeconomy development
Domain: The circular bioeconomy domain focuses on creating a sustainable economic system that efficiently utilizes biological resources while minimizing waste and environmental impact. It prioritizes resource recovery by transforming waste into valuable materials, promoting sustainable agricultural practices, and fostering innovation. The circular bioeconomy aims to enhance resource efficiency and create economic opportunities in city-region areas by designing closed-loop systems where waste from one process becomes input for another.
Location: Lower Austria, Austria
RUE: Key Enablers for the Circular Bioeconomy.
Standardized Data Sets: The first critical aspect is the collection and standardization of data on regional biomass streams. This includes quantitative data (e.g., production capacities, waste streams) and qualitative insights from reports and stakeholder interviews, forming the foundation for further analysis.
Sankey Diagrams: With the standardized data, Sankey diagrams visualize the flow of residual biomass streams. These diagrams illustrate how resources move through the system, highlighting inefficiencies and opportunities for optimization.
Multi-Criteria Resource Analysis (MCRA): MCRA provides a structured approach for evaluating various biomass utilization pathways, considering different environmental, social and economical factors. By integrating stakeholder input and co-creation processes, MCRA helps identify the most promising innovation pathways for resource optimization.
Innovation Pathways: Based on data analysis and MCRA results, specific innovation pathways are developed to enhance the utilization of residual biomass. These pathways focus on circular solutions and resource management methods that can be scaled and transferred across regions.
By integrating AI functionalities, this domain could become a regional data and resource exchange hub, applicable to other regions as well.
User engagement, empowerment, society and territorial awareness
Domain: The User Engagement, Empowerment, Society, and Territorial Awareness is centered on empowering individuals and communities, particularly in rural and underserved areas, by fostering a deep connection to their environment and society.
Location: Kedainiai, Lithuania
RUE: Leverage local resources to drive equitable economic development & balanced exchange of value between rural and urban areas.
The User Engagement, Empowerment, Society, and Territorial Awareness Enabler will emphasize the importance of territorial awareness in shaping the future of rural communities. It will encourage a collective understanding of how local resources, culture, and environment can be leveraged to drive economic development. This enhanced awareness will also foster a sense of ownership and pride among community members, leading to stronger societal bonds and a shared vision for the future. The Enabler will help rural communities not only survive but thrive, transforming them into dynamic hubs of innovation and sustainable growth that contribute positively to the broader regional and national economies. By attracting urban investment and creating a balanced exchange of value between rural and urban areas, the Enabler will ensure that the benefits of growth are equitably distributed, fostering resilience and long-term prosperity in rural territories.
Culture, landscape and heritage access and promotion
Domain: The domain focuses on enhancing the appeal and accessibility of rural cultural and natural heritage for urban visitors, and potentially prospective future inhabitants for the rural areas. RURBANIVE proposes the use of cognitive computing to analyze visitor preferences and create personalized, engaging tourism (even living) experiences. The so-called ‘affective value’ will be calculated as a tangible indicator to properly configure the most appropriate messages to generate the necessary emotion that invites someone to visit, or even live in a particular area.
Additionally, this domain emphasizes sustainable tourism practices that balance economic benefits with the preservation of cultural and natural resources.
Location: Burgos, Spain
RUE: Employ different cognitive computing tools to foster sustainable tourism by attracting urban populations to rural areas through personalised experiences.
It is designed to foster sustainable tourism by attracting urban populations to rural areas through personalised experiences that put forward the value of the rural area. By means of cognitive computing this enabler gathers and analyses data related to the preferences, behaviours, and emotional responses of potential visitors to situational content from the rural areas that is presented to them. This data-driven approach allows for the creation of highly targeted tourism campaigns that resonate with urban dwellers, encouraging them to explore and appreciate the cultural and natural heritage of rural areas.
Through the integration of different cognitive computing tools, urban audiences can virtually experience rural landscapes and heritage sites before visiting them, which fosters interest and awareness about the targeted rural area. This enables tourism operators to design promotional campaigns closely aligned with the preferences of the targeted audience, making the experiences more attractive and relevant. By promoting a deeper connection between urban visitors and rural destinations, this enabler not only boosts sustainable tourism but also supports the economic and cultural vitality of rural communities, making them take advantage of endogenous resources and helping to stop rural depopulation.
Enhanced mobility
Domain: Enhanced mobility is a term used to comprise all kinds of mobility, such as walking, driving, cycling, commuting, ride-sharing or carpooling, as well as all people living in an urban, suburban or rural space, irrespective of their ability to drive, walk, ride a bike. Enhanced mobility paves the way for a holistic approach towards mobility, where all people, and especially Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), can optimally utilize the urban space and reach their destinations on time.
Locations: Lemgo, Germany & Trikala, Greece
RUE: A simulation software that will explore alternatives to enhance connectivity between urban centres and their suburban and rural counterparts
Within the scope of this RUE, the mobility and accessibility issues of two different cities (Trikala, Greece and Lemgo, Germany) will be investigated in order to propose, at a simulation level in the first place, some alternatives that could enhance connectivity for everyone residing near those urban centers, in sub-urban or rural regions.
Interviews with several stakeholders (bus or taxi drivers, students and professors at the universities located near the cities, vulnerable road users such as elderly people, disabled people, persons with visual impairments, people residing in towns or villages not properly connected with the city centers, etc.), will help understand the mobility patterns of citizens and road users, as well as the existing infrastructure and other accessibility constraints.
Afterwards, several scenarios will be simulated through a simulation software; in those scenarios, on-demand and fixed-schedule commuting solutions, such as shuttle buses, will be proposed. Comparisons between the “before” and “after” the introduction of such services scenarios will be performed, travel-timewise and accessibility-wise, in an alpha (initial) and beta (final) version, and the results will be mapped, statically and dynamically, whilst a constant communication and feedback discussion with the stakeholders will be held throughout the enabler time process.