The University Jaume I hosted on Monday 11 March the first transnational meeting of the SURF (Sustainable Rural Future) project, funded by the Erasmus+ Programme (KA220 Adult Education), in which the University is a partner, and which aims to empower rural communities to face the effects of climate change through participatory processes.
The meeting was attended by representatives of several European partners, such as INEUROPA and ARCES from Italy, the Centre for Sustainable Rural Development from Kranj (CTPRK) and the University of Ljubljana from Slovenia, as well as the Low Carbon Economy Foundation, which coordinates the project.
The main objective of the meeting was to align the project’s objectives, discuss management and implementation strategies and lay the foundations for dissemination activities.
The kick-off meeting confirmed the importance of cooperation between the university and the local community in promoting sustainable development and the possibility of replicating this case of exit in other countries of the European Union through the SURF project.
Among the planned activities is the development of a training programme for educators and inhabitants of rural areas: the aim is to raise awareness of climate change in the citizens of these areas, and then encourage them through a participatory approach to identify community problems and solutions to solve them.
The aim of the project, represented by the metaphor of its title, is to help rural communities “ride the wave” of the effects of climate change by implementing effective adaptation mechanisms.
