Vital Rural Area is a European co-operation project of 13 project partners from six North Sea countries. The project tries to find transnational strategies to fortify regional areas and addresses in three major themes:
- empowerment of SMEs, stimulating economic development and innovations
- branding of the region, encouraging a professional exposure of regions
- quality of life and services, promoting the level of services and amenities by e.g. ICT facilities
The project works in the framework of the Interreg IVB North Sea Programme with Dutch NOFA as lead partner and will run until mid-2013. The budget is € 5 mil. IFUL is member of the project’s scientific group and works closely with the Municipality of Vejen who is the project’s Danish partner. The project's website: www.vitalruralarea.eu.
Contact person: Anne-Mette Hjalager, Professor and Head of Centre