Europe is changing and we are witnessing a technological and societal revolution. Rural areas are not immune to all these challenges. Smart Villages refers to rural areas and communities which build on their existing strengths and assets to develop new opportunities in this changing environment.
The concept is very wide and covers a range of policy areas, such as smart farming, urban-rural synergies, sustainability, transport, digital connectivity and others. This is because rural areas have great but insufficiently employed assets which can unlock their full economic potential and turn them into development and innovation hubs.
Leitrim County Councillor Enda Stenson delivered his opinion at the NAT commission on the 26th September where he looked at current practices in various regions across Europe and propose a set of measures to revitalize rural areas in a number of challenging areas, such as economic development, demographic change, digital divide with cities, transport links and others.
The initiative is very timely as the European Commission in April launched a reflection exercise called "EU Action for Smart Villages" which looks into the existing instruments and policies which could be better used to tackle challenges rural areas are facing.
After its unanimous agreement in the NAT commission the Smart Villages opinion is set to be discussed at the CoR plenary in November.