INSPIRE: A new Horizon Europe project launched to promote social inclusion and inspire social entrepreneurs in European rural areas – Inspire Project

04/03/2025

INSPIRE: A new Horizon Europe project launched to promote social inclusion and inspire social entrepreneurs in European rural areas

INSPIRE project has officially kicked off. It is a project about inclusive governance and social services through social entrepreneurship in rural areas funded by the European Union, under Grant Agreement No. 101136592. With a nearly €5 million budget, this Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action officially commenced in October 2024 and will last 36 months.

The project’s Kick-off Meeting took place on October 9^th, 2024, in Brussels, Belgium, and was organised by White Research, the Project Coordinator. All partners gathered to discuss their roles, responsibilities, and aspirations for the successful realisation of the project’s specific objectives, focusing on the first semester of the project. The pilot partners offered an overview of the key features of pilot locales, their main target groups and the potential of social economy regarding the provision of social services to rural inhabitants.

INSPIRE aims to promote social inclusion and enhance governance frameworks in European rural areas through a blend of novel research techniques, pilot interventions and policy solutions. It uses advanced methodologies and pilot actions and supports access to high-quality social services by rural citizens. The project will create an advanced territorial typology of rural areas in Europe, providing information about social inclusion drivers, status, risks, and trends.

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It will also offer capacity-building on social entrepreneurship to rural entrepreneurs and encourage social entrepreneurship by vulnerable groups in a set of seven different pilot territories, through the concept of “Smart Village”, with seven Smart Village Labs that will be created in Ireland, France, two in Greece, Poland, Slovakia and Romania that will serve as incubators of social entrepreneurship and social services, targeting groups in vulnerable situations.

The INSPIRE consortium, under the coordination of White Research, consists of 18 partners across 11 countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Czech Republic, Türkiye, Slovakia, Poland, France, Ireland and Romania. The consortium members include: White Research (WR), University of Groningen (RUG), University of Barcelona (UB), South East European Research Centre (SEERC), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU), KOÇ University (KOC), Social Economy Europe (SEE), The European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD), European Social Network (ESN), European Network of Migrant Women (ENMW), PEDAL Consulting (PEDAL), European Rural Development Network (ERDN), MedINA (MedINA), L’ADAPT (L’ADAPT), The Wheel (WHEEL), ROMONTANA (ROM), Q-PLAN International (Q-PLAN), and ARX NET (ARX.NET).

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.