The service marketplace for European rural areas
Funding Program:
Horizon 2020
Call:
DT-ICT-09-2020
GA No.:
101017304
Duration:
2021-2024
EC Funding:
€ 15.305.665,00
Connecting you to the services you need
Predominantly, rural areas make up half of Europe and represent around 20% of the population. However, most of them are also among the least favoured regions in the EU, with a GDP per capita significantly below the European average. Lower incomes and fewer opportunities, a shrinking and ageing population, and poor access to healthcare and education paint a stereotypical picture of European rural areas.
In this context, dRural presented new opportunities for the development of European rural areas and communities. The project co-developed and launched a digital marketplace of services for people living in these areas, while creating jobs and fostering economic growth and quality of life improvements.
These include the digitalisation of services marketplaces in 11 regions – three demonstrators from the dRural consortium and eight replicators across Europe, selected through two Open Calls, supporting local businesses and economies, encouraging inhabitants to stay in their towns, and improving the elderly quality of life.
Our role in the project
As part of the project, Foodscale Hub (FSH) mainly:
- Co-led tasks related to Open Call management and oversaw the financial management of third parties as the project’s Treasurer.
- Supported the regional demonstrators in launching the dRural Open Call, which attracted innovative SMEs and independent entrepreneurs to provide services through the dRural platform.
- Prepared a full set of documents and guidelines to ensure a smooth application process for applicants.
- Launched and managed the call for external evaluators and prepared guidelines and materials for evaluators who assessed the received applications.
dRural by numbers
- 37 partners
- 10 European countries
- 3 regional platforms developed and populated using the dRural Core Metaplatform
- Open Call deployed in three regions: Extremadura (Spain), Dubovrnik-Neretva County (Croatia) and Region Gelderland Midden (Netherlands);
- 8 Mirror Regions selected through two open calls
- 88 beneficiaries supported and funded through dRural Open Calls
- 1,855,000€ equity free (in total) distributed as a financial support to third parties who provided their services in three Regional Demonstrators and eight Mirror Regions
- 250+ businesses engaged in dRural ecosystems