RURALFOOD NEXUS
RURALFOOD NEXUS strengthens the resilience of rural communities to climate, environmental and socio-economic shocks. It develops and tests a Rural Resilience Intelligence Framework through Living Labs, combining participatory governance, local resource mobilisation, resilience indicators, digital and social innovation, and policy learning to help rural areas anticipate, prepare for and recover from disruptions and build transferable resilience strategies.
Better Us role
Coordinator
Duration
2028 – 2031
Programme
Horizon Europe
Countries
—
Better Us Role
Coordinator
Project Overview
RURALFOOD NEXUS is a Horizon Europe initiative designed to strengthen the resilience of rural communities to climate, environmental, economic, infrastructure and socio-demographic shocks. The project will develop, test and validate a Rural Resilience Intelligence Framework through Living Labs across diverse European rural territories. By combining research, participatory governance, local resource mobilisation, digital-social innovation and policy learning, the project will help rural communities anticipate disruptions, prepare for them, recover more effectively and build stronger, more connected and resilient territories.
Challenge
Rural communities across Europe are increasingly exposed to multiple and interconnected shocks, including extreme weather, environmental pressures, energy and transport disruptions, market instability, food-chain disruptions, demographic decline and social challenges. Their impacts are uneven: young people, women, elderly citizens, low-income households, small producers, rural SMEs and vulnerable groups can be disproportionately affected. At the same time, many rural authorities and community organisations lack locally relevant data, resilience indicators, participatory methods and practical tools to anticipate shocks, mobilise local resources and organise effective preparedness and recovery.
Our Solution
RURALFOOD NEXUS will create a practical and evidence-based Rural Resilience Intelligence Framework enabling rural territories to understand their exposure to shocks, assess immediate impacts and recovery capacities, evaluate governance readiness and mobilise local resources. Living Labs will bring together communities, public authorities, researchers, producers, SMEs, civil society, young people and vulnerable groups to co-design and test locally adapted preparedness and recovery strategies. Digital tools and resilience dashboards will support evidence-based decision-making, while validated approaches will be transformed into transferable models, policy recommendations and replication guidance for rural territories across Europe.
Key Activities
- Mapping rural shocks, vulnerabilities and territorial resilience baselines. - Developing and validating the Rural Resilience Intelligence Framework and locally relevant resilience indicators. - Establishing multi-actor Living Labs and strengthening participatory and anticipatory governance. - Mapping and mobilising local assets, networks, services and community resources. - Testing locally relevant shock scenarios, including extreme weather, energy, transport, market and food-chain disruptions. - Co-designing territorial preparedness, adaptation and recovery action plans. - Developing digital collaboration tools, evidence environments and resilience dashboards. - Rural-proofing resilience indicators and contributing evidence relevant to the JRC Resilience Dashboards. - Producing policy briefs, toolkits, replication guidance and peer-learning mechanisms for wider European uptake.