"It is a bit honourable and a bit exciting because there are experimental elements in the project, and we will collaborate with researchers and practitioners in three countries,” says a pleased project leader, Professor Ulla Higdem. Last week, Higdem and colleagues were awarded 250.000 euros from the European network ESPON – European Territorial Observation Network for the RURALPLAN project.
RURALPLAN will focus on innovative planning in rural areas experiencing population decline. Higdem explains the background of the project: "We perceive that decline is seen as a 'stigma,' and current theories and policies can give the impression of a loser society if their population does not grow.” The project group believes that such growth-oriented planning perspectives hinder the development of other proactive strategies to handle the decline.
Rural Innovation and Planning Lab
RURALPLAN aims to change this perspective by facilitating democratic planning processes with broad participation, where a realistic understanding of the conditions, including population development in rural municipalities, will be the foundation. Researchers at Inland Norway University og Applied Sciences have already developed a model for use in such knowledge-based strategic planning and policy formulation in rural areas. The model is called RUPIL, the Rural Planning- and Innovation Lab.
The RUPIL model is based on well-established innovation methodology, but it is novel to systematically incorporate this methodology into a planning context. Both the methodological experiences and the co-created results from the participation processes in RURALPLAN can hopefully be useful for urban planners throughout Europe.
Cooperation with Sweden and Switzerland
The research team for RURALPLAN consists of researchers from HINN, Linköping University, and the Swiss Center for Mountain Regions.
"We will conduct RUPIL processes in three selected case areas in two municipalities and one region in Innland Norway, in the Swedish area of Dalarna, and an alpine region in Switzerland," says Higdem. Testing and evaluation of the model will be done in collaboration with the case areas and the three stakeholders in the project, namely Inland County Council (leading), Länsstyrelsen in Dalarna, and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
In addition, data analyses, literature reviews, document studies, and interviews will be conducted to provide an overview of development trends around planning in the selected areas experiencing population decline.
Positive Feedback
The application received very positive feedback from the evaluation committee, highlighting that the concept convincingly contributes to achieving ESPON's goals.
The project starts just before Christmas, and the final deliveries are to be sent to ESPON's headquarters in Luxembourg by the end of November 2024.
In addition to Ulla Higdem, the project team includes:
- Professor Kjell Overvåg from the Institute for Organization, Leadership, and Governance
- Line Tholstrup from Eastern Norway Research Institute
- Trude Hella Eide from the Competence Center for Public Innovation
- Aleksander Bern from Eastern Norway Research Institute
- Nora Warhuus Samuelsen from Eastern Norway Research Institute
- Windy Kester Moe (communication)
- Ørjan Lande Hansen (research support)
- Professor Josefina Syssner from Linköping University
- Peter Niederer from the Swiss Center for Mountain Regions
- Vera Ambühl from the Swiss Center for Mountain Regions
