RUSTIK: Rural Sustainability Transitions through Integration of Knowledge for improved policy processes

RUSTIK的总体目标是使农村社区的行动者和政策制定者能够通过深入了解农村地区的不同功能、特征和未来情景、潜力和挑战，设计更好的战略、倡议和政策，促进农村地区的可持续转型。核心具体目标是提供(1)功能性农村地区的强大方法框架，(2)整合不同类型和来源数据的数据库，(3)为农村决策者和利益相关者改进战略和治理方法，以及(4)改进农村影响评估和分散农村证明的方法。RUSTIK旨在为加强现有的欧洲政策工具和方法做出重大贡献，主要是支持欧洲绿色协议、欧洲数字战略、欧洲社会权利支柱和欧盟农村地区的欧盟长期愿景。RUSTIK通过阐明农村地区的三个关键转变来解决这个问题，即(1)社会经济，(2)气候变化和环境，以及(3)数字。五种类型的农村功能是RUSTIK描述农村地区多样性及其应对这些转变的能力的起点。为了实现其总体和具体目标，RUSTIK将(1)在以往研究的基础上，为农村功能区、农村转型和农村复原力建立概念基础；(2)共同设计数据收集方法；(3)研究政策框架和协调机制。与所有这些活动密切相关的是，在10个欧洲国家的14个欧洲试点地区的生活实验室将成为研究农村多样性和社会转型的以行动为导向的多主体方法的核心要素。

The overarching objective of RUSTIK is to enable rural communities’ actors and policy makers to design better strategies, initiatives and policies fostering sustainability transitions of rural areas, through an advanced understanding of different rural functionalities, characteristics and future scenarios of rural areas, their potentials and challenges. Central specific objectives are to provide (1) a robust methodological framework for functional rural areas, (2) databases integrating data of different types and sources, (3), improved strategies and governance approaches for rural decision makers and stakeholders, and (4) improved approaches for rural impact assessment and decentralised rural proofing. RUSTIK aims to substantially contribute to enhancing existing European policy tools and approaches, most of all to support the European Green Deal, the European Digital Strategy, the European pillar of Social Rights and the EU Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas of the European Union. RUSTIK addresses the topic by illuminating three key transitions in rural areas, i.e. (1) socio-economic, (2) climate change and environmental, and (3) digital. Five types of rural functions are RUSTIK’s starting point for characterising the diversity of rural areas and their capacity to respond to these transitions. In order to achieve its overarching and specific objectives, RUSTIK will (1) create a conceptual basis for functional rural areas, transition and resilience of rural areas building on previous research, (2) co-design data collection approaches, and (3) investigate policy frameworks and coordination mechanisms. Closely interrelated with all of these activities, Living Labs in 14 European Pilot Regions in 10 European countries will be the central element of an action-oriented multi-actor approach to researching rural diversity and societal transformations.