Villages are the center of Europe

ended

"VillagesEU project general objectives consist in:: - promoting international debates between Italian and French rural towns about the need to strengthen the role of such kind of towns in the EU scenario; - strengthening rural areas’ citizens engagement and commitment in local development policies and initiatives, aimed at increasing the quality of life in rural towns; - strengthening the cooperation between the twinned municipalities of Gonzaga and Suzzara – IT; Brioude – FR for what concerns future initiatives for local development. Through the project, Consorzio Oltrepò Mantovano aims to address the objectives of the call by promoting bottom-up debates involving two of its member Municipalities, Gonzaga and Suzzara, which are both twinned with the rural Municipality of Brioude (France). Identified target groups are citizens, civil society associations as well as local public administrators and enterprises, that will be involved in a debate around the main challenges that European rural areas must face and address in the next years to be able to act as protagonists in the EU scenario. The project draws from the specific needs of the three involved towns, which are rural towns but are characterized also by industrial and not only agricultural development. So public administrators/policy makers and also the private sector must cooperate in identifying appropriate local development strategies. To this extent, the project aims to address, through public debates and exchanges, the following specific objectives: • ""CONNECTED TOWNS"": DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED MUNICIPALITIES • ACCESS TO SERVICES AND QUALITY OF LIFE • THE IMPORTANCE OF ADOPTING POLICIES FOR GREEN GROWTH/GREEN ECONOMY"