Rural pilot 4: Apulia (Italy)
Rural district description
Apulia is a Mediterranean region where productive countryside, historic villages, coastal tourism and urban markets are deeply interconnected. Agriculture, food culture, landscape heritage and rural hospitality are central to regional identity, yet many rural functions remain undervalued in development practice. The pilot uses this rich mix of natural, cultural and entrepreneurial assets to explore how rural areas can create more value through stronger short supply chains, social and educational farming, agritourism and closer links between producers, citizens, innovators and policy-makers.
Challenge description
The pilot seeks to strengthen the primary sector by connecting farming with services and experiences that make rural life more economically viable and socially attractive. Key challenges include engaging young people, improving digitisation and skills, strengthening ties between research and practice, and making connected models such as social farms, educational farms, educational forests and agritourism more visible and scalable. The pilot also has to show how governance can better support cooperation across rural and urban actors rather than treating agriculture, tourism, innovation and social inclusion separately.
Anticipated result
The anticipated result is a more integrated territorial model for Apulia in which short supply chains and connected rural services create stronger innovation ecosystems, better access to opportunities and renewed vitality in rural places.
The pilot should support better governance, stronger valorisation of cultural and natural resources, and improved understanding of how rural and urban communities benefit one another.
Over time, this is expected to contribute to resilience, social capital, entrepreneurship, vocational learning and a stronger territorial identity rooted in inclusive rural-urban development.
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