Unipi team leader – Dott.ssa Francesca Galli – Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-ambientali

Mutually beneficial relations along rural – peri-urban – urban trajectories can contribute substantially to Europe’s smart, sustainable and inclusive growth agenda. Success in creating synergies is largely determined by decisions made at local and regional levels. Well-designed governance arrangements can be conducive to decisions that strengthen beneficial relations between rural and urban areas.

Central to ROBUST is a place-based case study approach in which the case studies focus on thematic functional linkages cutting across rural-urban areas. The content and governance
of these functional linkages are analyzed in diverse case study areas that represent the main types of rural – peri- urban – urban settings across Europe.

ROBUST will identify and strengthen policies, governance systems and practices that can contribute more effectively to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Particular attention will
be paid to the capacities of municipal and regional governments, the related administrations and other stakeholders
to deliver and enhance mutually beneficial relations.

ROBUST aims to provide practice-oriented information about successful governance models applicable to different settings as well as related communication and training material. In ROBUST, the questions and research needs of practice partners will guide the research process. Researchers will support the related multi-actor consultations through data collection and analysis, by providing suitable platforms and through facilitation. The insights co-generated by research and practice partners and stakeholders will be translated into tools, including scenario development, as well as training materials and capacity building measures. ROBUST will in this way contribute to a better understanding of rural-urban interactions, and it will at the same time enhance the capacity of relevant actors and institutions to foster mutually beneficial relations along rural – peri-urban – urban trajectories.

Coordinator
WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY (WU)

Other participants

• ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY (AU, United Kingdom)
• NODIBINAJUMS BALTIC STUDIES CENTRE (BSC, Latvia)
• TUKUMA NOVADA DOME (Tukums, Latvia)
• UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE LBG (UOG, United Kingdom)
• BUNDESANSTALT FUER BERGBAUERNFRAGEN (BABF, Austria)
• PLANUNG & FORSCHUNG POLICY RESEARCH & CONSULTANCY (PRAC, Germany)
• PERI-URBAN REGIONS PLATFORM EUROPE (PURPLE, Brussels, Belgium)
• UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIA (UVEG, Spain)
• OIKOS SVETOVANJE ZA RAZVOJ DOO (OIKOS, Slovenia)
• LUONNONVARAKESKUS (Luke, Finland)
• HELSINGIN KAUPUNKI (HELSINKI, Finland)
• REGIONALNA RAZVOJNA AGENCIJA (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
• ICLEI EUROPEAN SECRETARIAT GMBH (ICLEI EUROPASEKRETARIAT GMBH, Freiburg, Germany)
• GEMEENTE EDE (Gemeente Ede, Nethelands)
• COMMISSAO DE COORDENACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO REGIONAL DE LISBOA E VALE DO TEJO (CCDRLVT, Lisbon, Portugal)
• INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TECNICO (IST, Lisbon, Portugal)
• GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL (GCC, United Kingdom)
• REGIONALVERBAND FRANKFURTRHEINMAIN (RVFRM, Germany)
• PROVINCIA DI LUCCA (PL, Italy)
• WELSH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION (WLGA, United Kingdom)
• REGIONALMANAGEMENT STEIRISCHER ZENTRALRAUM GMBH (RM SZR, Austria)

Start date: 1/06/2017
Duration: 48
End date: 31/05/2021
Project cost: 5,999,934.00
Project funding: 5,999,934.00
UNIPI quota: 162,212.5
Call title: RUR-01-2016 Consolidated policy framework and governance models for synergies in rural-urban linkages
UNIPI role: partner

Project website: http://rural-urban.eu/