On 8 July, the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme was represented at the RURITAGE Webinar “Thinking beyond the COVID-19 crisis: heritage-based opportunities for rural regeneration”. The Webinar discussed opportunities for the future of rural areas after the COVID-19 and how to turn challenges into opportunities to enhance permanent social resilience in rural areas. Together with the EPA Secretariat presenting the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe as tools for rural regeneration in the post-Covid 19 context, RURITAGE experts discussed this issue with representatives from the EU Commission (Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development – DG AGRI, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture – DG EAC, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation – DG RDT) and the European Network for Rural Development (ENRD).

RURITAGE is a four-year-long EU-funded research project, launched in June 2018, which strives to enable rural regeneration through heritage. The project aims to sustainably enhance local heritage for regional and community development. The intention is to regenerate rural areas with the help of the Systemic Innovation Areas (SIA) framework which identifies unique heritage potential within rural communities, such as Pilgrimage, Resilience, Sustainable Local Food Production, Integrated Landscape Management, Migration and Art and Festivals.

The video recording of the Webinar is available here.