On weekends, rural residents visit cities to explore the centre and observe wildlife. Conversely, urban professionals travel to villages to visit art spaces, admire high-quality architecture or work in creative co-working spaces.
This session aims to fundamentally rethink and rebuild the relationship between urban and rural areas by developing an innovative approach to creating regenerative ecosystems in the countryside while implementing and scaling this approach across Europe.
Rural and remote areas are crucial for the success of a clean and just transition. The climate transition requires a shift from urban planning contexts to the challenges of rural development. There are urgent needs to focus on contexts where individuals or entire populations may feel overwhelmed, undervalued or ignored while directly facing the challenges of climate change and current transformation processes.
Over the last decade, a growing number of creatives have left urban areas and dispersed to more rural locations. Framing them as digital nomads idlers or escapists would simply replicate the usual patterns of extraction and exploitation while missing a historic opportunity. Reinventing rural and remote areas appears to be key to the triple transition. This raises questions of how arts and culture can further promote the core values of a new rural vision.
( participants includes Fredrik Fischer)
Miguel Ángel Herrera Gutiérrez is an entrepreneur and Mayor of Genalguacil
Gordon Hush is Head of Innovation School at the Glasgow School of Art
Karin De Boer is a creative producer developing Barrio Fuente — a rural laboratory in Andalusia
Frederik Fischer is the founder and director of the creative agency Neulandia