From Vision to Action: Co-Creating Rural Futures

Thedevelopment and connectivity of rural areas, along with their interaction with urban regions, is a critical concern for Thuringia and many European regions. Over the past 10 years,IBA Thüringen(the International Construction Exhibition) has gained valuable experience in shaping rural spaces, which resulted in the attached position paper of IBA Thüringen. These experiences, combined with interdisciplinary research on rural areas at theBauhaus University Weimar, strongly link to the values and principles of theNew European Bauhaus. We aim to share our experiences and recommendations with other European regions and institutions to contribute to the discussion on future policy development. This is particularly relevant given the new European Commission’s focus areas and the upcoming funding period from 2028-2035.The results of the world café will be shared with representatives from DG RTD, DG AGRI, and the JRC, who will also engage with us in discussions about future developments at the European level.The event’s outcome will be the development of joint recommendations, demands and ideas for the future development of rural spaces in Europe. These will provide valuable input for future discussions at the EU, national and regional levels. Ideally, such co-designed action recommendations will serve as a concrete manifestation of the ten goals of the EU’s long-term vision for rural areas and the associated EU Rural Pact, which European regions can endorse.