Habitability, housing, and integration in rural areas -network

The goal of the Rural Policy network is to support and promote rural habitability, the conditions and attractiveness of living in rural areas, and the integration of new residents into rural areas. The thematic focuses and work packages of the project are:

Rural Services

The work on rural services focuses particularly on issues related to social, health, and safety services, the school network, and transportation. Special attention is also given to digital and mobile services and related rural issues such as digital exclusion and solutions to address it. A key part of the work is the rural proofing of the services network changes, as well as advocacy work to integrate rural proofing into the decision-making processes of wellbeing services counties and municipalities.

Village Security

The network produces information on factors affecting everyday safety in rural areas and existing good practices. The network promotes research on village security and advocates for better recognition and consideration of village security as part of the comprehensive security chain. The work is carried out in broad cooperation with various stakeholders, including the Ministry of the Interior’s Harvaturva network, the Village Safety Section of the Finnish Villages Association, the Village Reserve project, wellbeing services counties, municipalities, regional village associations, and ongoing regional safety projects.

Rural Migration and rural areas as places and communities for Integration

The network collects data and conducts rural analysis on migration, rural migration, and integration, highlighting and disseminating practical examples of successes. The network also maps international examples and outlines potential pilot projects in Finland based on them. The collected data supports the work of villages and municipalities in promoting rural migration and provides information for decision-making. The measures support the government program’s provision to “explore opportunities to create incentives to promote migration to rural and archipelago areas.”

Strengthening Inclusion and Civic Action

The network supports the inclusion and influence of rural residents and communities in matters that concern them. Inclusion is promoted across different themes, particularly to advance the participation process in rural proofing.

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The network implements the Rural Policy Program 2021–2027 and operates as part of the Rural Policy Council (MANE), fulfilling the tasks assigned to the council. A key part of the work is supporting decision-makers in cross-sectoral and strategically important rural policy issues by providing information for decision-making and actively communicating and advocating using a networked approach and partnerships. The work includes both strategic long-term work and quick responses to the network’s themes and current rural policy issues. The main forms of work include statements, opinions, webinars, workshops, and participation in societal discussions.

The network project is implemented as a collaborative project between Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (coordinator), the University of Eastern Finland, the Finnish Villages Association, and the University of Vaasa. The team of special advisors in the network consists of Tarja Lukkari (KAMK), Mari Kattilakoski (UEF), Johanna Niilivuo (Finnish Villages Association), and Heli Siirilä (UWASA).