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Prepared by: Mr Ilija Mugosa, Center for Finance Between 10 and 18 June 2026, I had the opportunity to undertake a Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM)...

This SMART-RURAL STSM in Moldova and Romania explored rural resilience from a Near Neighbour Country perspective, examining technology adoption and existing resilience assessment frameworks. The work highlighted key gaps around institutional integration, traditional knowledge, multi-level assessment and the realities of post-socialist rural contexts, helping shape the development of more context-sensitive resilience indicators for SMART-RURAL.

by Dr. Tarlan Ahmadov - Society for Inclusive and Collaborative Entrepreneurship (S4ICE), Stuttgart, Germany  I was looking for patterns in how researchers have thought about...

Prepared by Nina Perunovic, PhD candidate, Center for Finance (Montenegro)I had the opportunity to participate in a Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) entitled "Digital Financial...

As part of the dissemination and knowledge-exchange activities of COST Action CA24170 – Building resilient rural communities through synergy of traditional knowledge and technological innovation (SMART-RURAL), Prof. Vladimir Kitanovski from the Faculty of Technological Sciences, University Mother Teresa, Skopje, North Macedonia, participated in the International Conference on Rural Development and Social Transformation (ICRDST-26), 19–20 August 2026 as a hybrid international event. The conference brought together researchers, academics, students and professionals from different fields, providing an opportunity to exchange research results, share experiences and establish new research and professional connections. The participation provided an opportunity to present research directly relevant to the digital and sustainability dimensions of rural transformation.

Theo Lynn attended "Overcoming Mountainous Polytraps: Policy Advice from the MARGISTAR COST Action" in Brussels on 8 September 2026 as a member of both MARGISTAR (CA21125) and SMART-RURAL (CA24170). MARGISTAR is finishing. SMART-RURAL is just beginning. The question posed is: what should one hand to the other? A useful starting point is the Issues Paper "Escaping the Periphery Trap: Voices on the Futures of Europe's Remote Rural and Mountain Regions," which brings together responses from forty experts in eighteen countries to seven foresight questions about the next ten to twenty years.

SMART-RURAL is a pan-European network bringing together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and rural community representatives to address these issues by combining traditional knowledge systems with modern technological solutions — building rural resilience through the synergy of traditional wisdom and digital innovation.