UNITA R&I focusing in rural and mountain territories needs in Renewable Energy, Circular Economy and Cultural Heritage
Rural and mountain regions, specially cross-border areas, are being deeply affected by core-periphery dynamics. This factor causes a gradual isolation and demographic decrease in non-central areas, which are heavily suffering a depopulation process. But mountains are also a wonderful laboratory for research, experimentation and innovation and for developing new uses related to emerging technologies. They are also territories which are living the environmental transition of our societies and experiencing their impacts and threats.
Apart from conserving and managing a common cultural (and natural) heritage, rural and mountain territories, through research partnerships, must contribute to structuring the European area. Given this potential and attractiveness, the UNITA universities, which are solidly anchored in their territories, propose to set up an experimental model by de-compartmentalizing approaches and policies and thus offering a profoundly renewed vision.
The objective is to define a framework for action shared by all the public or private stakeholders of the territories wishing to get involved under the UNITA leadership, contributing in this way to reinforce Smart Specialization Strategies and to build a model of sustainable development for rural areas aligned with the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The UNITA strategy is firmly committed with the three Os policy as defined by the European Commission in 2016: Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World.
In order to contribute to the sustainable development of their territories UNITA research and innovation was focus during the first phase of the project on three main thematic areas:
- Cultural Heritage
- Renewable Energies
- Circular Economy
Three new thematic areas have been added in the consolidation phase:
- Global health
- Digital transition
- Inclusive societies
Through these six main areas UNITA can contribute to the development of rural and mountain areas through promoting the value of the natural resources, developing networks of circular economy (including bio-economy), linking different economic activities (agriculture, tourism, industry and crafts), promoting the richness of the cultural and linguistic heritage, and optimising the relationship among the different actors of each ecosystem.
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