• The "Museos Vivos-Living Museums" project (Castilla y León, Galicia and the Czech Republic) has been selected as a finalist in the "Digital Futures" category for its commitment to digitalization in a rural project.
• The winners will be announced on October 6, 2022, in Brussels.
• The 4th edition of the "Rural Inspiration Awards 2021" - organized by the European Network for Rural Development - reveals the projects that have received support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) for the period 2014-2020.

The European Network for Rural Development selects the "Living Museums" project as a finalist for the 2022 "Rural Inspiration Awards"

Of course, there is a future and hope for rural areas. A future that lies in the hands of young people and that also depends on the digitalization of many of their activities.

The European Network for Rural Development (ENRD) holds its annual Rural Inspiration Awards to showcase projects receiving support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) for the 2014-2020 period.

The theme of this call is "The future is youth" , in line with the European Year of Youth .

This fourth edition consolidates the awards launched in 2018, which have had a Spanish flavor in their three previous editions. In its first edition, the Spanish initiative Agroberry won the award for improving the competitiveness of rural areas. In 2020, the Spanish project Ecopionet It came in second place in the popular vote category. And in 2021, Spain was honored thanks to the "Local-Scale Circular Bioeconomy Pilot Project" by Josenea and the Public University of Navarra. The work was recognized in the " Resilient Future" category, as it is a project that contributes to strengthening the resilience of rural areas.

Living Museums

The European Network for Rural Development has selected the project as a finalist for the award. "Museos Vivos - Living Museums" (Castilla y León, Galicia, and the Czech Republic) is one of eight projects presented by the National Rural Network last July. It is competing for the award in the "Digital Future" category, as it is a rural initiative that considers innovation and new technologies in the development of its activities.

"Living Museums"   It is a network of 70 museums closed due to the economic crisis and located in small rural areas of Castile and León , Galicia , and the Czech Republic . Thanks to a "SMART" system, they have been reopened to the public, showcasing the ethnographic richness of the 19 Local Action Group (LAG) territories participating in this LEADER cooperation project. Furthermore, this system allows them to be open to the public 365 days a year at a minimal cost.

This has enabled the Living Museums network to set a record for visitor numbers this summer. In July and August alone, they recorded nearly 10,000 visitors to the nearly 70 museums that make up the project. This figure represents a 50% increase in visitor flow compared to the first half of the year, when just over 5,570 visits were recorded.

Popular vote

The 2021 Rural Inspiration Awards ceremony will take place on October 6 in Brussels, coinciding with the launch of the new European CAP Network , which will convert the current national rural networks into “CAP Networks”.

The fourth edition of these awards will feature five winners . The ENRD jury is responsible for determining the winners based on thematic categories, but Museos Vivos-Living Museums is also participating in the "Popular Vote" category, in which the public can decide the winner. You can participate and cast your vote online from now until October 4th .