SHERPA Discussion Paper - Empowering rural areas in multi-level governance processes

Empowering regional and local institutions and actors in decision-making processes is essential to ensure that EU, national, regional, and local level policies are sufficiently cohesive to address specific rural challenges and meet the needs of rural inhabitants. This requires holistic governance approaches to rural policy development based on open dialogue between institutions and stakeholders, and the inclusive participation of citizens, facilitated through the use of newly available (digital) tools. This SHERPA Discussion Paper provides a synthesis of EU policy aims and findings from research on the topic of governance in rural areas. The document will be used to gather evidence across Europe regarding governance and stakeholder engagement in rural policy-making processes, and highlight which future governance related measures and research is needed to improve the development and implementation of rural policies.