ENG│HR
Join us on 1st March in Osijek on the international conference ”Smart Villages – Tradition’s Digital Attire“ organised by Member of the European Parliament Davor Škrlec. The conference will take place in the premises of the Croatian Chamber of Economy located at Europske avenije 13.
Each topic will be presented by Croatian government officials and representatives of EU institutions to enable public debate and exchange of opinions on policies, best practices and challenges of the Smart Villages concept. The aim of the conference is to introduce the concept to the Croatian public and implementing conclusions in strategic documents of the Croatian government and foster its inclusion into legislation.
The conference consists of two panels:
1) New CAP – Smart Villages and Energy Transition in Rural Areas – The Role of Energy Cooperatives
2) Smart Villages: Best Practices and Challenges
- Transition to competitive green economy in rural areas,
- Digital innovation and bioeconomy,
- Social villages: promoting social inclusion in rural areas,
- Smart rural mobility
In April 2017, European Commission presented the initiative for the development of smart villages in the EU with the aim of achieving the synergy of traditional agriculture, Internet, local wireless networks and innovations, and through smart specialization to enable the development of new business models. The initiative also seeks to counteract negative demographic trends in rural areas.
Public policies such as circular economy, energy union, and digital economy need to achieve the EU’s energy transition to the low-carbon society with affordable costs on the economy and greater involvement of citizens in the decision-making process with aim to maximizing social benefits. When adopting public policies, coordination and cooperation between several sectors such as energy, transport, agriculture, economy and urban planning are needed. Development strategies, as a key document with political goals, must contain action plans for each sector in order to achieve the optimally policy goals. Action plans should take into account regional and local specifics, strengthen planning, financing and implementation of activities and encourage inclusion in EU initiatives such as a smart village.