PoliRuralPlus Mobilise Call

Description

Objectives of the Mobilise Call Leverage AI for community-driven innovation to enhance rural-urban interactions. Organize local/regional hackathons, datahons, or ideathons to promote and validate PoliRuralPlus and other solutions. Contribute to the development of Regional Action Plans in PoliRuralPlus pilot regions. Eligibility Criteria Who can apply? Type of organisation: Open to all types with operational and financial capacity. Single applicants only: No consortia or joint submissions. Eligible countries: Legally established in an EU Member State or Associated Country. Other eligibility criteria: Third parties: The proposal should not include any subcontracting or transfer of financial contribution to third parties. One proposal per applicant: Only one proposal will be accepted for funding per applicant. Declaration of honour: Applicants must declare their eligibility and no conflict of interest in the online application. Pilot specific proposals: The proposal must address specific objectives identified within one of the 9 designated pilot regions of the PoliRuralPlus project. Language: English. Compliance: GDPR adherence required. Non-beneficiary clause: Current PoliRuralPlus beneficiaries and their affiliated entities ineligible. Deliverables commitment: As outlined in Chapter 7 of the Guidelines for Applicants. Scope of the Mobilise Call The Mobilise Call funds the organization of a hackathon, datahon, or ideathon in a PoliRuralPlus pilot region to apply AI and Deep Learning (DL) tools in addressing rural-urban challenges. Eligible activities include: Defining key themes and challenges (at least two) relevant to the region’s rural-urban dynamics. Engaging local stakeholders, such as IT experts, policymakers, and community representatives. Promoting the event through local networks, social media, and the PoliRuralPlus Knowledge Hub. Organizing and facilitating the event, ensuring active participation and providing technical mentoring on PoliRuralPlus tools. Supporting participants in developing and validating solutions integrating PoliRuralPlus technologies. Documenting outcomes and sharing results through reports, blog posts, and regional events. Projects must be completed within six months and focus on practical, community-driven applications of AI/DL. Specific Objectives per Pilot Area Proposals must align with the specific objectives identified in one of the nine designated pilot regions of the PoliRuralPlus project. Pilot 1, situated in Ireland's Monaghan County: Uncover pathways for sustainable enterprise development in the circular economy Identifying emerging sectors and innovative practices in the circular economy. Highlight opportunities for growth in the circular economic sector with focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. Full integration of social enterprises advancing inclusive, community-driven circular growth. Enhanced quality of life, with Monaghan serving as a model for balanced and regenerative rural-urban collaboration. Slovakia's pilot (Pilot 2), covering the entire country: Developing a sharedVision to make rural areas a desirable place to live, work, visit and invest by addressing the needs and aspirations of local communities. Revitalization of Slovak rural areas by implementing sustainable development initiatives that promote economic diversification, environmental stewardship and social well-being in rural areas. Strengthening stakeholder engagement and capacity building by empowering local stakeholders to co-create actionable solutions that address rural challenges. Facilitating Inclusive consultations and decision-making processes ensuring that diverse voices are heard through participatory foresight exercises, fostering policies that reflect the collective needs of rural communities. Pilot 3, located in the region of Central Greece: Training for sustainable agritech technologies Promotional services for agritourism Increase in digital skills among AKIS actors Diversification of agritourism opportunities and promotion of local agricultural products Italian pilot (Pilot 4), situated in Apulia: Establishment of short food supply chains Promotion of healthy diets and rural lifestyles Creation of direct linkages between rural and urban citizens Attraction of urban dwellers to rural areas Pilot 5 in Finland, situated in the Mallusjoki rural district: Building the Rural Event Industry Ecosystem Community engagement and collaboration for wellbeing Economic opportunities through rural events Renew the community premises to Green Culture Centre in line with New European Bauhaus policy Attraction of urban visitors to rural areas Pilot 6, the Bavaria-Czechia rural innovation network, defined by the Bohemian Forest (Šumava and Bayerischer Wald) and surrounding areas: Establishment of the Bavaria-Czechia Rural Innovation Network Improvement of connections and strategies for synergistic development Enhancement of business and innovation opportunities Strengthening of social connectivity and territorial identity Support local farming practices and food supply chains in order to meet sustainability targets Spanish pilot (Pilot 7), situated in Segobriga and region of Sierra y Mancha Conquense: Promotion of rural-urban synergies and cultural heritage Utilisation of interconnected sites engaging public private stakeholders supported by ADESIMAN as Local Action Group Economic development through community collaboration Bridging the gap between rural and urban areas Pilot 8 in Latvia's Vidzeme Planning Region: Together with relevant stakeholders prototyping the systematic mechanism and potentially applicable ICT solutions for the monitoring of the development initiatives aligned with the Development Programme of the Vidzeme Planning Region as a territory. Uniting and mobilizing stakeholders to take ownership towards implementing and identifying regional development initiatives that are aligned with the Development Programme of the Vidzeme Planning Region. Pilot 9 in Malta: Digital transformation and entrepreneurial capacity building in rural areas Levelling up of agricultural sectors through digitization Empowerment of youth and promotion of circularity Bridging societal divides between rural and urban areas Please note that detailed description of the specific objectives and the spatial extent of the pilot regions are described in the Guidelines for Applicants.

Beneficiary & submission

Financial Support Funding: up to 10,000 EUR lump sum for successful proposals. Total projects funded: 9 Submission Process Online submission: Via the PoliRuralPlus Knowledge Hub. Parts of proposal: Part A: Administrative Form. Part B: Technical Description (PDF format). Early submission is highly recommended. Errors in submissions can be corrected and resubmitted before the deadline; only the latest version will be considered. Evaluation Criteria Proposals will be evaluated based on three main criteria: Objectives (0-5 points) Impacts (0-5 points) Implementation (0-5 points) A minimum score of 3 in all criteria and an overall score of at least 11 is required for funding. In the event of equal overall scores within a region, the proposal with better relevance to PoliRuralPlus will be selected to ensure that the most potentially transformative project is chosen. The detailed conditions for the evaluation of the call are set out in the Annex 2 Guidelines for Applicants under section 7 Evaluation of proposals. Key Dates Call opening: 31 January 2025 Submission Deadline: 31 March 2025, 17:00 CEST Expected notification of results: April 2025 Signature of Sub-Grant Agreement: May 2025 Expected implementation period: 6 months, June - November 2025

Further information

Open Call Documents Additional requirements, terms, and conditions are part of the open call documents, including: Guidelines for Applicants (PDF) Template for Part B - Technical Description (MS Word document) Model Sub-Grant Agreement (PDF) Applicants are advised to carefully review all accompanying documents available on the PoliRuralPlus Knowledge Hub to ensure full compliance and understanding of the submission process and requirements. Contact and Assistance For additional support, including consultancy on proposal preparation, applicants are encouraged to contact the designated contact points for each pilot region, whose details can be found on the PoliRuralPlus Knowledge Hub. For any other questions, please use the primary contact details for this call at opencall@poliruralplus.eu. Disclaimer: Applicants are advised to regularly check the PoliRuralPlus Knowledge Hub for the latest information and updates regarding the open call. PoliRuralPlus reserves the right to make any updates to the open call at any time without prior notice.