Ruralities Living Lab as an Innovation Ecosystem

The Ruralities Living Lab is a place-based innovation ecosystem that connects actors who would otherwise work separately—rural SMEs, farmers, communities, educators, researchers, public authorities and technology providers—around shared rural challenges. Its ecosystem role is not simply to deliver individual projects. It provides a continuing structure through which participants can:

• identify needs based on lived rural experience;

• co-create and test solutions in real settings;

• exchange knowledge across generations, sectors and countries;

• build skills through training, SOILATHONs and peer learning;

• connect local evidence with research, technology and funding opportunities;

• translate practical results into policy recommendations;

• sustain and replicate useful approaches after individual projects end.

The Ruralities Living Lab therefore acts as the ecosystem’s connector and knowledge intermediary: it brings together people, evidence, resources and opportunities, then helps move ideas from local experimentation towards wider adoption and policy uptake. Europe’s regional innovation organizations operate at the intersection of many competing priorities. They are expected to help new ventures grow, connect research with business, build international networks, make meaningful contributions to public policy, mobilize investment, and advance the twin transition — while also contributing to Europe’s competitiveness and keeping pace with an increasingly demanding policy and funding environment. The challenge is not always the absence of programs, expertise or successful solutions. More often, it is that these resources remain dispersed across projects, institutions and platforms. Useful evidence, tested practices and policy instruments may already be available, but regional actors can struggle to locate them, interpret their relevance and convert them into practical action. Access to the right European knowledge infrastructure can make a significant difference between succeeding and thriving within the multi-lateral funding arena.

1. The Knowledge Exchange Platform is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions that helps connect European research and innovation priorities with regional and local realities. It serves as a space for dialogue, peer learning and the exchange of practical experiences between policymakers, innovation actors, universities, businesses and regional authorities. Thematic seminars in Brussels, peer-to-peer events hosted in regions across Europe and local showcase activities, the platform facilitates the sharing of solutions and good practices, including startup and scale-up ecosystems, knowledge valorization, talent attraction and Regional Innovation Valleys.

2. The Horizon Results Platform contains information on thousands of EU-funded projects to share valuable knowledge that helps organizations discover innovations, project outcomes and exploitable results emerging from EU-funded initiatives. Users can explore project results from across Europe and identify innovations that are already being tested, validated or brought to market. Many entries also include information on the types of partners and support being sought, creating opportunities for regions, clusters, SMEs and research organizations to connect with ongoing initiatives. Its sister digital platform, the Horizon Results Booster, supports EU-funded projects in increasing the impact, dissemination and exploitation of their results.

   Projects can access free support services to improve exploitation potential, dissemination and go-to-market strategies. Users need not be recipients of Horizon funding to think about project impact from the time planning a project begins.

3. CORDIS is the European Commission's public platform for discovering EU-funded research and innovation projects. It provides project summaries, participating organizations, funding details, objectives, deliverables, results and links to publications, particularly for Horizon Europe and earlier Framework Programmes. It helps researchers, policymakers, businesses and project developers find knowledge, identify partners and build on existing EU-funded work.

4. Search for ongoing and completed projects with the Erasmus+ Results Platform search engine.

5. The S3 Community of Practice is DG REGIO’s central hub for guidance, networking, support and peer learning on Smart Specialisation Strategies. It builds on more than a decade of experience with S3 and focuses on helping regions and Member States move from strategy design to practical implementation. The Community offers targeted expert support, working groups, thematic partnerships, events, studies and policy briefs for regional authorities and stakeholders involved in Smart Specialisation. It is particularly useful for organisations working on innovation diffusion, industrial transition and interregional cooperation — especially when trying to align regional priorities with EU cohesion policy opportunities.

6. Interreg Europe's Policy Learning Platform provides references to regional actors, access to good practices, expert support, peer-learning opportunities and policy insights from across Europe. Users can browse good practices by topic, access policy briefs and request expert support. This makes it particularly useful when designing a new initiative or looking for tested solutions from other regions.

7. Looking Beyond Funding - ecosystems like Ruralities Living Lab do not thrive through one-off funding alone. Strong ecosystems depend on connections: between regions, sectors, institutions and people. And between project results and actual change. Our Rural Funding Navigator was designed to help ruralities actors make sense of the European landscape and turn available opportunities into practical next steps.

Ruralities Living Lab for Resilient Rural Communities

Sustainability in Rural Enterprises and Innovation

A member of the Social Innovation Stakeholders Network - www.SocialInnovationActions.Org

Social Innovation Actions - PIC 878506012

@RURALITIES