Kick-off of new H2020 project on Economic & Social Impacts of Digitisation in Rural Areas
Between 4 and 6 September 2019, over 50 people representing 25 partners from 15 different European countries got together in Pisa to launch DESIRA – a new EU-funded project coordinated by the University of Pisa. The project will run 4 years.
The overarching aim of the project is to evaluate the impact of digitalisation in rural areas, agriculture and forestry in order to maximise the benefits of technology following to the principles of sustainability (UN SDGs) and responsible innovation.
The project consortium includes diverse actors from public institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and non-governmental organisations. Agriculture, forestry and rural stakeholders will co-develop scenarios and policies in 20 Living Labs located in different European regions (with one of them in Tuscany). A Virtual Research Environment is created within DESIRA which is to connect all participants and facilitate the interaction within the network. It will also be used to accommodate a Rural Digitisation Forum with 250 stakeholders from all over Europe to discuss related issues.
