The main aim of this new EU comprehensive guide is to help local governments, institutions, stakeholders, businesses, NGOs, associations, academic institutions and individuals find and take advantage of funds and programs among the many, but sometimes complex, options. 

The toolkit, unveiled with an online launch event at the beginning of February 2024, wants to provide "a single point of access to all existing initiatives", with comprehensive information on available resources, explaining why these are relevant to rural areas.

The funding search tool

The first tool proposed by the guide is the one that collects all funding opportunities. At the moment, for example, 26 "economic" initiatives of the European Union appear to be open. Of these, 14 involve the possibility of a direct application, 10 can be activated through national or regional authorities.

Finally, the last two "opportunities" refer to actual "financial instruments" such as loans, guarantees, capital and risk assumption. These initiatives can also arise through partnerships with banks, insurance companies and brokerage firms.

The "Get Inspired" section

Instead, a page on the platform invites people to explore "a wide range of practical examples, case studies and inspiring stories".

The goal here is to get information on how funds and support mechanisms have already been successfully implemented in rural areas across the European Union.

The portal hosts a large interactive geographic map, focused on the Old Continent: it encloses the businesses that have been involved with funding, shows where they are located and ranks them with four different colours according to the cases.

Resources

This is where we get to the heart of the Rural Toolkit. This section brings together detailed guides on EU funding opportunities available in the 2021-2027 period for specific sectors: broadband, culture, education, energy, environment and tourism.

There is also a focus on the territorial approach, through the "Handbook of Territorial and Local Development Strategies", which gives guidance on designing and implementing integrated initiatives in areas other than urban areas. It is aimed primarily at those who manage operational programmes, local authorities and other parties involved in the procedures.

"The Atlas of Sustainable Urban Development Policies for Small Urban Areas", on the other hand, proposes possible approaches to deal with population decline, an ageing population, rising unemployment and other challenges.

"Small urban areas are the backbone of the EU's urban structure and play a key role in ensuring balanced spatial development," the guide explains. The Harnessing Talent platform, therefore, promises to nurture European talent by facilitating access to events, best practices, and technical assistance, as well as a dedicated helpdesk, to help regions across the EU cope with changing demographics and tertiary sector challenges.

In addition, the Territorial Agenda 2030 provides a framework of policy actions that promote territorial cohesion in Europe, toward an inclusive and sustainable future for all places, to combat growing inequalities that have reached a critical level.

There is no shortage of ad hoc overviews of funding made available by the European Commission to stimulate broadband investment in the EU: these tools aim to advance digital transformation and implement the vision of a digital-age-ready Europe.

CulturEU's funding guide, on the other hand, includes all the EU's programmes for groups involved in cultural and creative activities and contains key information on who can apply and how. In particular, the guide outlines opportunities related to the European Commission's flagship programme, Creative Europe, which will provide 2.44 billion euros in support from 2021-2027.

The EU Funding Opportunities for Education and Training guide covers projects on skills development for both nationally managed decentralized actions and those taken care of directly by the European Commission.

The EU Funding Opportunities for Energy guide brings together information on mechanisms to increase investment in renewable energy, as well as the REPowerEU and Green Deal scheme. Then there is a guide on projects that could contribute to the achievement of the EU's environmental policies and goals in the 2021-2027 period.

Finally, the Guide to EU funding for tourism highlights the range of support programmes under the new EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and Next Generation EU towards more digital and sustainable tourism. It contains links to websites of EU programmes with practical information and concrete examples of funded projects.