16/04/2025

Inspiring progress: INSPIRE partners meet in Lublin, Poland and visit the pilot rural area in Parczew and Hołowno

Our 2^nd Project Meeting in Lublin

The 2^nd consortium meeting of the INSPIRE project, hosted by our partner European Rural Development Network (ERDN) in Lublin, Poland, on the 9^th and 10^th of April, 2025 together project partners to review progress and future directions.

The first day featured discussions on our progress and an interactive session on the INSPIRE territorial typology of European rural areas, where we discussed early visions and ideas. The project has already reached some key milestones, including the large-scale mapping of social services in rural Europe, the conceptual framework of social inclusion dimensions, and the launch of the project website. We also had the opportunity to learn more and interact with partners from our sister projects, ESIRA and SERIGO, which shared early lessons from their activities regarding engagement and co-creation in rural areas.

On the second day, the partners had the opportunity to visit Parczew, the soon-to-be pilot rural area in Poland, through a dedicated field trip. The partners met with local policy stakeholders (i.e., people working in the Municipality) and discussed the needs of the local communities there as well as envisioned pilot activities under the Polish Smart Village Lab, which will be run by ERDN. Partners also visited a factory in which many people from the surrounding villages are employed and also had a tour in a childcare and education facility in the village of Hołowno.

About INSPIRE

The INSPIRE project, launched in October 2024 and funded by the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation program, is a project that 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 will offer capacity-building on social entrepreneurship through seven Smart Village Labs in Ireland, France, two in Greece, Poland, Slovakia and Romania, serving as incubators of social entrepreneurship and social services, targeting groups in vulnerable situations.

Consortium Partners

INSPIRE is implemented by a multidisciplinary consortium made up of eighteen (18) partners spanning eleven (11) EU Member States and associated countries. The partnership brings together organisations with complementary skills and experience, working collaboratively under the coordination of White Research (WR).

For more information

For more information and to stay updated on the project’s progress, events and results, visit https://inspireprojecteu.eu/ or contact us directly:

WHITE RESEARCH (WR) – Project Coordinator

Thomas Bakratsas: tbakratsas@white-research.eu

Danai Antonaki: dantonaki@white-research.eu

Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL (Q-PLAN) – Dissemination & Communication Manager

Ioannis Konstas: konstas@qplan-intl.gr

Elli Roma-Athanasiadou: roma@qplan-intl.gr