The SMART Community-led transition for Europe’s Rural Areas, SMART ERA project started on 1 January 2024. The implementation of the project will take four years, until 31 December 2027. The consortium is led by the coordinator Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) from Italy. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia is one of the pilot areas and the Kerttu Saalasti Institute of the University of Oulu is the leader of the work package. The Baltic Sea Institute is the third project partner from Finland. Other project partners are Italy, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Austria. The project has a total of 25 partners. The total budget of the project is approximately EUR 6.59 million and the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia's share of the budget is EUR 192,500. Funding is provided under the Innovation Action part of the Horizon Europe programme.
The aim of the project is to secure the competitiveness of rural and remote areas and areas affected by demographic change by utilising digitalisation. This will be done by testing and developing digital infrastructures and services (on functional remote platforms) for businesses and citizens on skills management. In addition to digital connections and services, more targeted site-specific measures are also needed, which the project will pilot in the municipalities of Alavieska, Kalajoki and Nivala in Northern Ostrobothnia. Alavieska, the Kalajoki River and Nivalan the municipalities act as pilot areas for a platform-based solution to be developed in cooperation between businesses and stakeholders in order to improve the accessibility of rural mobility services in the region and to meet local businesses and those who need them.
The availability of a skilled workforce and successful entrepreneurs come from an active and educated population. Digitalisation enables rural areas to have better access to international business communities. Combined with the increasing trend of multi-place living in rural areas, it will enable a wider and partially location-independent labour market to 1) attract highly skilled workers to rural areas 2) attract new remote jobs from rural areas and 3) enable location-independent digital entrepreneurship.
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SMART ERA second call open for community-led renewal of rural areas
SMART ERA (SMART Community-led Transition for Europe’s Rural Areas) is a project funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme that has opened its second open call for European rural communities. The aim of the call is to support locally-led innovation, sustainable development and the active participation of residents in building the future of rural areas.
The application period is: 12.6.-15.9.2026 at 13.00 (CEST), through which a maximum of: Four new successor pilots (Follower Micro-Pilots). Each selected project may receive a maximum of: EUR 90 000 of funding.
SMART ERA aims to address key challenges in Europe's rural areas, such as depopulation, an ageing population, reduced access to services and limited economic opportunities. In the project's operating model, local communities are at the centre of development, and residents are actively involved in the development of their own area.
Selected regions adopt the SMART ERA developed the Community-led Innovation Framework, where local actors are involved in co-creation. Development work will be carried out Smart Innovation Package (SIP) Combining social, digital and organisational innovations to address local needs.
Applications must be submitted as a consortium including:
- Community Activator (Community Activator) responsible for stakeholder engagement and community mobilisation.
- Pilot Orchestrator (pilot coordinator) who is typically an SME or a technology actor and is responsible for the implementation of the pilot.
The call aims to expand the use of SMART ERA approaches to new areas and strengthen innovation ecosystems in rural areas that support long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability.
Additional information: the SMART ERA Project from the homepage.
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Pilot action is about to start. Two pilots will be carried out in Northern Ostrobothnia:
- The Spanish company dMillennial Rural Projects SL has been selected to implement the Smart Economy Service Platform with its presentation SmartVill_NiAlKa.
- AI-Assisted Conceptualization of Rural Businesses Based on Deep Local Knowledge – AI-assisted rural business development service for the pilot has been selected by the Finnish company Virtual Dawn with its presentation TAIKKA – RC.
The project promoter has been selected and the selected promoters have been granted €60,000 in funding from the project, as well as access to a nine-month support programme with expertise, networks and international visibility. In total, the SMART ERA project will implement 11 technology pilots to address rural innovation needs in six European pilot regions. North Ostrobothnia is one of the pilot areas.
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Up-to-date information about the project on the website and on LinkedIn!
the Smart Era Project homepage.
Unews about the pilot funding application 080925
News about the launch of the project 090224
More information about the project:
Saija Tikkanen, tel. +358 40 685 4044 or firstname.lastname(a)pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi
