Good practices

Community development using the example of the Luthern community" is the attempt of making the residents conscious of the strengths of their own community, such as: the intact landscape, the abundant resources of water and wood, the charming village center and the pilgrimage site of Luthern Bad. With a two-day future conference, all interest groups were involved in the development. This promoted credibility and transparency, brought many good ideas, some of which were also implemented.The municipality of Luthern is in a special peripheral location, at the “end” of the canton of Lucerne. The central (in the heart of Switzerland), but remote (in a dead end) community suffered from emigration and deficient community finances. As a result, no more investments were made in the village infrastructure.Also important for the success of the community development was the fact that everyone interested could participate in the various sub-projects. The projects were jointly planned and implemented in several working groups. Only the ideas that were actually supported and promoted by individuals, companies or organizations were pursued.The most important, implemented impulses for Luthern:• The creation of the brand “Naturally LUTHERTAL”• The creation of the playground "sheep with the wolves"• Signposted snowshoe tours from / to Luthern Bad• New barbecues-places• Running courses for groups• The creation of the first Central Swiss Nordic Fitness Trail• The launch of a national project in the field of spiritual tourism (pilgrims, places of strength)• Introduction of the Luthertal Active Day• Map for e-bike tours around Luthern• First year-round yurt village• Digitization of the audio picture show "Luthern - Dorf am Napf"• Development of the Luthern tourism concept• Creation of new circular hiking trails in the Luthertal• Awarding of the "Natural Engagement LUTHERTAL"• Permanent solution for the continuation of the efforts

Integrated biomass use is an NRP-funded project that develops a new method for decentralized energy generation from any non-wood biomass (patent pending Europe-wide).From the biomass available in large quantities, either electricity, heat or animal feed is produced in three different processes. The innovation consists in the first-time combination of plants already available on the market, such as a grass press, a grass drying plant, a machine for producing pellets, two biogas plants (a wet plant and a drying plant), and an incinerator. This innovative combination creates a multiple benefit in the form of electricity, heat, heating pellets or pellets as animal feed.The following benefits are created for companies or the region:• Production of electricity, heat, heating pellets and pellets for animal feed from indigenous solid and liquid biomass.• Combination of different components available on the market into an integrated plant for efficient use and complete recycling of biomass.• Downsizing of the large-scale plant to mass-producible compact biomass plants for decentralized application -> Natel Effect• Maintenance and creation of new jobs for the region (farmers, trade)

Basic health care is an important location factor of a region and it is in the interest of the public authorities to strengthen basic medical care in the long term. With the support of the Canton of Lucerne, the Lucerne Region West Regional Development Association promotes the formation of group practices. It analyses current and future care in the region, works out solutions together with all those affected and supports implementation.The Escholzmatt Health Centre is virtually the pioneering project of the Lucerne Region West Regional Development Association.The Canton of Lucerne has approved and supported the project. The Department of Health and Social Affairs of the Canton of Lucerne supported the development of the centre.With the arrival of the regional Spitex organisation, the Escholzmatt Health Centre has been given a high level of importance for the sub-region right from the start. It can be expected that further healthcare providers will move into the Escholzmatt Health Centre. With a catchment area of 5000 inhabitants the need is clearly given. With the new building the lack of general practitioners can be counteracted.In the important clarification phase, the Health Department of the Canton of Lucerne with Government Councillor Guido Graf, the medical insurance company, the doctors involved, the client and the Church found. The realisation in the centre of Escholzmatt, directly connected to public transport, offers optimal conditions for the population in terms of accessibility as well as additional offers in the health sector with Spitex base, physiotherapy and massage practice in the overall offer. Doctors who are almost permanently on call are of great importance for social life in a community; this requires an extraordinary amount of commitment.

Pellet technology provides an environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels for small to medium sized furnaces. Today, pellets are produced from wood residues from the wood industry with a correspondingly costly procurement of raw materials. A new approach is to produce pellets directly from forest wood. However, there are hardly any empirical data and studies available on this. The Unesco Biosphere Entlebuch (UBE) and the Napfgebiet have the raw material potential, the regional economic structures and logistically suitable location factors for pellet production from forest wood. The "Forest Wood Pellet Feasibility Study in the RegioHER" is a comprehensive approach to finding solutions that include the highest possible regional added value:• The feasibility study, which follows a holistic approach and meets the requirements of a basis for decision making for a preliminary project, has been developed• Regional potentials are identified and taken into account in the solution concept in the best possible way.• Different variants are objectively comparable with the help of suitable assessment instruments.Pellet technology provides an environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels for small to medium-sized combustion plants. Today, pellets are produced from wood residues from the wood industry with a correspondingly costly procurement of raw materials.A new approach is to produce pellets directly from forest wood. However, there are hardly any empirical data and studies available on this.Unesco Biosphere Entlebuch (UBE) has the raw material potential, the regional economic structures and logistically suitable location factors for pellet production from forest wood. The "Forest Wood Pellet Feasibility Study Unesco Biosphere Entlebuch" is a holistic approach to finding solutions that include the highest possible regional added value. This version is in line with the objectives of the UBE (CO2-neutral heating energy balance by 2020, see target picture UBE.

Feedback from action training on the smart village methodology with the Smart Community pilot areas

Phoster swimming platform is a startup ecosystem that markets floating plant filters.Planted floating platforms form a root filter system in the water, which supports the natural purification of the water. At the root surface, biological processes (biofilm) bind both particulate and dissolved substances in the water. The root surface reaches more than 100m^2 per m^2 of floating platform and is therefore much more efficient in absorbing substances than comparable methods on land. An additional advantage is the cleaning directly on the water surface. It is therefore not in competition with activities on land.Phoster swimming platforms are made of biodegradable materials and are clearly more environmentally friendly. A novelty is the concept of a completely organic structure. The products are cost-effective to build and operate. Their properties open up new markets in the fields of aquaponics systems, water stabilization and partial cleaning in artificial waters and facilities.The aesthetic aspect is also in the foreground. Thus, water purification should also be perceived as a design object in a pond and not just as a technical measure for purifying the water. Thus, in the development of swimming platforms, great attention is paid to their design. 1m^2 Phoster swimming platforms work just as efficiently as 5m^2 bank area or compensation area in swimming ponds. This makes it possible to create swimming ponds with biological water quality in a smaller area.

Taxito is a ride-along system that's been in use in the Napf area since June 2015. It is a supplement to public transport and makes existing capacities in individual transport easily accessible to the general public. In rural areas, weak demand is a major challenge in expanding the public transport offer above the legally established basic offer. Taxito has a low entry hurdle thanks to its easy handling. The Lucerne Transport Authority (VVL) promotes digitisation and sharing projects. Taxito can be seen as a forerunner of autonomous systems or vehicles, since a platform is used to combine journey requests with driving performance. The communities of Luthern and Zell and the city of Willisau actively contribute to the use and awareness of Taxito.The number of trips arranged has increased continuously since its launch to 928 trips in 2018. Compared to the previous year, this is an increase of 100 trips. Also in 2018 no accidents, incidents or damages were reported.At the end of 2017, Taxito passengers waited an average of less than three minutes before being given a lift by a driver. In 2018, the average waiting time was reduced to 2.5 minutes. Contrary to expectations, waiting times also remain short at taxito points with low vehicle frequency.Waiting is at the so-called Taxito-Point. These are marked with display boards where the desired destinations are immediately recognisable. The user enters his destination at the Taxito-Point and it is displayed on the board. This way the driver can immediately see where the waiting person wants to be taken. Thanks to solar and mobile technology, the panels are independent of the mains supply, so there are no additional costs for positioning or relocation.

Mooraculum is a milestone in summer tourism in the mountain region of Sörenberg / Flühli. The bgg adventure park Mooraculum is situated on the Rossweid above Sörenberg, which can be reached by foot (hike from Sörenberg) or by gondola. The adventure park is designed to inform children in a playful way about the bog as well as the plants and animals that live in it.Bogs are very common in the Entlebuch. There are 45 raised bogs, 61 low-moore bogs and four bog landscapes in the region. The Mooraculum offers an opportunity for children of different ages to discover the bogs and their inhabitants, combining play and the transfer of knowledge.The heart of the Mooraculum is the bog water park with ponds, play equipment and resting places. For the toddlers there is a mini-bog, which was created near the restaurant, while the older children can solve puzzles in the bog village. The station «Save the Bog» discusses the balance of the water budget in a playful way: as with the other stations, the sensitivity of bogs and their inhabitants to human intervention is addressed. The station “Bog concert” is dedicated to the sounds – chirping, croaking, trills - that can be heard in bogs: visitors can organise a bog-concert themselves with oversized wooden figures.Special points of attraction are the climbing garden and a shallow pond that can be crossed with a raft. With this facility, entire families are made aware of the concerns of protected moorland in a playful and exciting way. The admission is free, which especially supports the utilization of the mountain railways during the summer months.

Strengthening Lucerne's sawmill industry through electricity production from waste wood is to create the prerequisites for the use of small-scale wood gasification plants for decentralized electricity and heat energy production at the Lucerne sawmills. In contrast to the large wood gasification plants/wood WKK plants, only locally available, natural resources (forest wood, residual wood) are to be processed. Within this circular economy, the raw material is a waste product from the sawmill operation.The wood gasification plants in the foreground for the present project are in the range of 30 kW - 50 kW electrical power. The thermal output is in the range of 100 kW. In a second phase of the project, a pilot plant is to be commissioned, followed by the diffusion of the technology in the region and throughout Switzerland.Basic principles of plant and process engineering; elaboration of specifications, detailed evaluation of plant type/manufacturer; utility value analysis and selection of product(s), clarification of legal principles.Standard operating concept and business plan; development of a standardised plant and operating concept tailored to the conditions in the sawmill operations and the associated business plan figures.Potential and added value; verification of ecological and economic potential for wood gasification plants in the canton of Lucerne and the whole of Switzerland. Calculation of regional value added effectsThe utility value analysis of the units and manufacturers in question has been completed. The choice was made for a product that has already been tried and tested in practice several times in Germany, Austria and Italy. The legal clarifications for the construction of the plants in Switzerland have begun. The standardized operating concepts, adapted to the typology of the Lucerne sawmills, are also in progress. The first approximate planning figures are available.

The youth welfare network integration, Entlebuch / Lehn branch is a success story. The project includes an innovative and sustainable placement offer for children with special needs. This creates qualified opportunities of secondary occupations for partner families in regions with negative agricultural structural change and thus facilitates the development of a new relationship between town and country.Cooperation agreements exist with 15 municipalities in Emmental and Entlebuch, which regulate cooperation at the level of authorities and partner families.The new use of the Lehn school building created new opportunities for cooperation both for the municipality of Escholzmatt-Marbach and for the Innovation Emmental-Napf Foundation. Here, investments in education are made and children with special needs are socially integrated: a win-win situation for everyone involved.The persons responsible for the youth welfare network integration have succeeded in providing burdened children with an above-average placement offer in a family environment, permanent caregivers, an internal day school and a high degree of individualization. In economic terms, the Emmental and Entlebuch regions benefit from newly created jobs and the high recognition of the youth welfare network integration.When planning the "Entlebuch branch", the Youth Welfare Network Integration Foundation was able to draw on many years of experience and correspondingly significant figures from other locations. Accordingly, the application for an NRP project also states: "Innovative farming families can be given an additional, qualified job that also generates added value for the region."

Networking Pilgrimages is the joint promotion of living monasteries, churches and places of pilgrimage. These shape the religious and cultural life in Central Switzerland. Paths invite pilgrims, religious sites for reflection or cultural events for enjoyment.In the meantime, 62 sacred places in 7 cantons have formed a sacred landscape of Central Switzerland. The Central Switzerland Sacred Landscape Association has set itself the task of allowing the numerous hidden sacred beauties of Central Switzerland to blossom and shows them in all their diversity.What began as an idea from a pilot community development project using the example of the municipality of Luthern under the leadership of the Lucerne West Region in 2011 has developed into a wonderful network.Central Switzerland has many well-known and lesser-known places of pilgrimage and pilgrimage as well as sacred buildings of high art-historical value that are of national importance.The following are just some of the results of the network of pilgrimage sites: "Walking the "Heavenly PathsA network of pilgrim and hiking trails connects the various places of the sacred landscape of Central Switzerland. Each of the three sections of the Heavenly Paths takes you to places steeped in history where you can drink healing waters and to places of power that tell legends and stories. Monasteries invite you to take a break away from everyday life. A rich culinary offer delights body, mind and soul. Whether in single stages or as a multi-day hike, the trail network offers a rich selection of easy trails to challenging paths. The tour suggestions are linked to the SchweizMobil map material. They are supplemented with many tips for a weekend excursion full of discovery or a whole week's hiking.

The municipality of Pontresina has decided to take part in the participation process developed by the Swiss Association for Mountain Regions (SAB) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs as part of the Smart Villages NRP pilot programme.

4 communities in the Viamala region - Thusis, Cazis, Andeer, Rheinwald - took part in the participation process. They were test communities for all 19 communities in the region. The process was coordinated by the region. The Viamala region is an administrative unit of the canton of Graubünden that was created as a result of the local government reform on January 1, 2016.

The Val Guiers territory in Savoie (France) has set up a structuring project to enhance its offer of services to the population and services dedicated to digital inclusion, within a former general post office building that has been specially renovated for the purpose in 2020. The facility will combine 4 activities with high social added value : a service center to support the process administrative or job search, a space for digital practices, a postal agency an incubator and place of initiative for the inhabitants

The citizen company SAS Centrales Villageoises VercorSoleiL, specialized in the production of renewable energies, decided within the Ecological Transition Contract of the Community of Communes of Royans-Vercors by purchasing a ZOE e-car to experiment and launch an E-car sharing service to the inhabitants of the South-Vercors moutaneous area.

Echo des Falaises is a local Online collaborative platform that functions aims at facilitate the networking of local organizations and inhabitants, the scale-up of individual or collective initiatives that meet this Smart Village needs for engaging ecological, social and digital transitions.

The project foresees that all buildings in Luthern will be connected to the glass fiber network by the end of 2022, but on a voluntary basis. Residents and businesses would have to contribute to the initial costs with a one-time connection fee. Subsequently, a monthly connection fee will be due, as is the case today with most cable connections (TV, telephone, etc.).

The Bike-Flowtrail in Marbach is a bike path for everyone, maintained by the Sportbahnen Marbachegg, as a new, attractive summer offer with bike transport by gondola. A “flow trail” can be ridden by trained bikers as well as by the whole family: the route, which follows the natural terrain, allows biking without braking in wide bends and thus triggers the feeling of a “flow” for bikers. In addition, this new offer counters the snow uncertainty for a ski area at just 1500 m because it attracts a new target group. In this way, the tourist added value, jobs in the community and the future of the Sportbahnen Marbachegg AG as a tourist driving force for the entire region are secured.

a mobile citizen service app

ummadum - an innovative toolfor reducing traffic in municipalities

raising awareness among hoteliers concerning the topic digitalisation

helping the municipalities and other stakeholders to create a digital vision and digital keyprojects in the Pitztal

For an Innovation lab a central location is perfect in order to guarantee accessibility for all citizens (e.g. commuters). The old railway station building in Löffingen was purchased by the municipality of Löffingen lends itself to establish as an Innovation Lab.

cewas is an “international center for water management services”. As an international competence center for water management, cewas offers various access points: qualified specialists find professional support in establishing their businesses and existing technology or service providers can network with the cewas start-ups, participate in them and thus open up new markets. Investors can reduce their risks by having potential “investment recipients” supported by cewas;governmental and non-governmental organizations can train their employees at cewas and prepare them for new collaborations with the private sector.This project guarantees an inclusive and sustainable society.According to the "think global, act local"-principle, local value creation is promoted in order to develop market-oriented offers for the national and international demand for sustainable solutions in the water management sector. For cewas, the Lucerne West region offers interesting location factors, such as low-cost office spaces, low corporate taxes, and attractive living and leisure options for those involved in the start-ups.The cewas start-up program is unique in that it combines the provision of work infrastructure with thematic course modules and the personal support of the start-ups by renowned water experts. These not only provide their experience and knowledge from science and practice, but also secure the strategic and market-oriented development of start-up business ideas. Bringing together international teams (north-south partnerships) allows the KMU’s to benefit from the Swiss state of the art and science on the one hand and to act quickly in the target countries on the other. The individual course modules of the cewas training program are also open to individuals or organizations who benefit from this platform and can position themselves in the international water management market. Co-operations between cewas start-ups and existing companies in the water sector as well as university institutes in the inland and abroad are also supported.

The municipality of Ried-Brig did not have any water meters, consumption was not billed at tax points based on consumption. After a referendum at the end of 2017, the commissioning of electronic water meters could start. The electronic water meters were installed together with so-called smart meters - electricity meters that collect all consumption data and send it to the control center - in practically all households in the community. The advantage is that consumption can be recorded depending on consumption, no more meters have to be read in the households, the households only receive a bill for water, electricity, gas etc. from the electricity distributor and thus the municipal administration is relieved of reading and billing . The municipality of Fieschertal would like to follow the example of Ried Brig and has already prepared a technical roll out with the regional electricity distributor EW Goms. Electronic water meters and smart meters are to be installed there in 2021/2022.

A short food supply chain connects local farmers with local customers. However, beside the agriculture domain, this process also includes logistics, trading and dissemination. Even though the process is more individual and natural, it still needs more improvement in order to facilitate its acceptance from the broader local communities. Furthermore, even though interesting, the potential customers sometimes also lack the trust into such food, which in many cases is more expensive, while giving no real proof of its origin. To improve the process in terms of efficiency, traceability and trust, a digital transformation of the process, backed by blockchain technology is the best possible solution.

On behalf of TALK AG, gutundgut integrated a co-working space in Adelboden and the Tourist Center under the roof of the Mountain Lab Adelboden. The Tourist Center in Adelboden has become an innovative open space where the staff of the Tourist Center and the ski school share space with independent entrepreneurs, digital nomads, and local talent.From the beginning of the project, it was important to involve the local population. Besides the co-working space, the Mountain Lab Adelboden offers external meeting rooms in various locations. In co-operation with hotels and vacation homeowners, a Coliving offer was developed. Together these three offers form an attractive opportunity to combine work with leisure time and support Adelboden in its positioning as an innovative place of tourism and work.

Fostering sustainable development in agriculture, using IoT.

New innovative way for conection of local farm holders and food producers with their consumers.

Especially in rural regions it is not always easy to be mobile. Often, people are dependent on their own cars. For older people, who are not able to drive a car anymore, it can be very difficult to get to the doctor or the bakery in the town-center on their own.

During the period of lockdown caused by the COVID19 emergency, the provincial Public Transport Agency looked for innovative solutions to meet the new organisational and resident/worker needs. One mode of transport that worked perfectly was the one called °call the bus°, a Demand Responsive Transport service.The end of the lockdown and the slow resumption of travel made it possible to rethink this mode of transport not only for work but also for tourism.This new initiative has been strongly encouraged by the mayors of the Valli del SOL Municipalities, the Development Agency GAL Genovese, the Beigua Geopark and financed through the European project Alpine Space Smart Villages.

Due to the covid-19 emergency it was necessary to face the need to carry out some events of territorial promotion through the digital mode, thus a new RSG was born consisting of two LAGs, Gal Genovese Development Agency and LAG Verde Mare, a company of digital services and two Expo Committees: Expo Alta Val Trebbia and Expo Fontanabuona Tigullio.This is an innovative solution that has ensured the creation of a digital platform for the promotion of artisan and tourist activities as part of these two local events, including EXPO FONTANABUONA TIGULLIO also recognized as a regional fair.GAL Genovese Development Agency is the organizer of this regional fair which takes place in Val Fontanabuona, a mountain area in eastern Liguria, and which attracts thousands of visitors every year. The fair receives each year a public funding by Liguria Region and Genoa Chamber of Commerce. Due to the pandemic the event seemed cancelled, but fortunately an innovative solution was found: a digital platform where users could found local products and services they need according to the e-commerce mode.

Jemlokalno (eng.: eating-local) is an application which connects local producers of food and beverages with local producers. It was developed as a solution to COVID issues in the first lock-down (april 2020), when local products were available, but logistics and information about availability was not present.

In Germany the so-called cash register receipt requirement (Kassensicherungsverordnung) was introduced on 1 January 2020. Since then it is mandatory that customers receive a receipt for every purchase. A test phase for a digital receipt, available in local retail stores in Löffingen is planned to be carried out in January 2021

An Innovation Lab is a meeting place in a central location with a focus on business start-ups. Innovation Labs with integrated coworking spaces could create future-oriented places of work in Löffingen and promote a creative environment through cooperation between different working groups.

Municipal administrations will further expand their smart digital offerings in the coming years. The demands on such a digital administration is enormous. However, it makes it possible to deal with administrative matters independent of time and place.

A comprehensive strategy process for digitisation in rural areas includes a thorough analysis of the initial situation and local conditions to develop viable solutions based on practical experience. Within the strategy process, needs-oriented solutions are to be found and people are to be inspired to implement them.The entire strategy process in Löffingen consists of various steps, which in their entirety pursue a sustainable people-oriented development in all smartness categories.

La Jolie Colo is a both a place and a rural development tool: it consists in a business hotel, a digital hub and a creative Lab dedicated to welcome Cultural companies on residency. The site offers 1000 m2 of shared offices and collaborative spaces + 2 hectares of land dedicated to organic agriculture. For 3 years now, it gives an operational tool to develop and implement new forms of local activities and organizations within a collaborative project. Governance of the facility involves local inhabitants and stakeholders that can share and create added-value for both economic and rural development, towards a more resilient and transition way of inhabit and work in the moutaneous Vercors natural regional park.

The Vercors Regional Natural Park in collaboration with two intermunicipalities (Royans-Vercors and the Vercors massif) has set up a hitchhiking system organized in 2018-2019. This system makes it possible to pool the use of individual vehicles by encouraging users to practice hitchhiking in a friendly and secure manner. A network of users, passengers or drivers is created, via a site allowing free registration, signage is installed at strategic points of the territory.

The community talk and the future workshop are two methods that were used in 4 communities in Upper Valais by the SAB and VillageOffice to collect the needs and ideas regarding future issues together with the interested population and to mobilize people to implement ideas.

The BSM brings together what belongs together - at the B2B level! The cooperation platform for the economy in the four-country region of Lake Constance is the link that is supposed to offer support to companies during and after the Corona pandemic. There, companies can search for the resources they need or offer free capacities and other services.

That group of citizens handles an on demand transportation system in the Royans territory (France).

In order to simplify existing administrative processes for the citizens and the city, the Mayor of Tengen, Marian Schreier, organized a citizens' workshop in which the process of digital garbage can management was discussed. Until now, citizens had to personally visit the office to order, change or cancel the garbage cans. In the future, this process can be carried out online and conveniently from the PC at home.

5 small municipalities in the German speaking part of the Canton Wallis introduced municipality apps of two types. One is rather a messenger system between the local authorities and the citizens including clearly determined services such as News, Places, Events, Infos, Autostop und Photo-Reporter (https://ultrastark.ch/megaphone#configurator) and the other is kind of a village facebook allowing users to group themselves around a multitude of specific topics of interest (https://www.crossiety.ch/).

Svečina, (German: Witschein) is a settlement in the western Slavic Hills (Slovene: Slovenske gorice) north of Plach in the Municipality of Kungota in northeastern Slovenia. The majority was attested in historical sources as Wetschin and Wetsine in 1197 Baetscheine in 1269, among other spellings). Locally, the settlement is known as Quantity. The name may be derived from the common noun * more 'council', with the initial s- possibly by association with the related word world 'advice'. In the past it was known as Witschein in German. There is a manor house in the settlement. Its foundations date to the 12th century, but the current building is late Renaissance dating to 1629 with a square floor plan and four corner turrets. It was built by the monks of St. Lambrecht's Abbey in Austria. Since 1936 it has been a secondary school, now belonging to the Agricultural College of Maribor. Notable people who were born or lived in Volume: • Andreas Perlach (1490–1551), court astrologer and chancellor of the University of Vienna Slovenske gorice, near the Slovenian-Austrian border, where the main activity of farms is focused on viticulture and fruit growing. We are known for the famous road, the heart among the vineyards; but this is only in space the actual picture of the hearty and kind people who have lived here for centuries and create a mosaic of recognition and excellence of Slovenian gastronomic richness, cultural heritage, rich natural landscape and famous people who were born here (* Andrej Perlach) or lived and lived here. They are all heroes!

Experimented project carried out in the Recco Valleys by ATP Exercise and the Municipality of Recco called "Call the Bus". The purpose is to avoid rides with empty vehicles by offering a transport service on call on reservation. This system provides a service more suited to the needs of users, allowing at the same time a decrease in management costs and waste. Experimental project carried out on the Recco Valleys by ATP Exercise and Comune di Recco called "Chiama il Bus". The purpose is to avoid rides with empty vehicles by offering a call-by-reservation transport service. This system provides a service that is better suited to the needs of users, allowing a decrease in management costs and waste.

A dairy company, in Val d'Aveto (Liguria), used RDP (Rural Development Programme) support to to add a new wing to the factory building, for the processing, packaging and storage of yoghurt. In this way, the investment reinforce the local supply chains and helps prevent the abandonment of the farming activity in the area thanks to the creation of new jobs.

strategy of the government of Tyrol to improve the digitalisation in the county

Prontubus is a transport on-demand project with the aim of integrate the existing suburban public transport system in the Modena Province territory. Thanks to reservation system (by app and by call center) the aim is to offer a higher number of routes for the inhabitants of rural areas with the purpose of increasing the modal shift towards public transport.

The main objective is the reduction of traffic in low-density areas by offering alternative means of transport such as bikes. Indeed, traffic is mainly responsible of greenhouse gases emissions. The aim of the project is to establish an easy hiring network of bike rental in order to make public transport more attractive. An other goal is offer a range of bikes, available round the clock, to support multimodal mobility.

Bed & Sports in Willisau is a new accommodation offer (inaugurated in January 2018), which is embedded in the existing accommodation offers in the Willisau region. The offer supports and demonstrates the importance of sports tourism and its value for the city and the entire region. Willisau has always been a hot spot for athletes from all over Switzerland; since 1972, the city operates a sports center of national importance. Thus, in Willisau, there are an indoor swimming pool, a swinging cellar, a hall for strength, gymnastics and wrestling, various athletics facilities, a 400-meter circular track, three soccer fields, a 4-field beach facility, a cable car and several gyms at disposal. So far, however, Willisau has mostly been lacking overnight offers with 4- and multi-bed rooms, as well as theory rooms for sports camps. Adjacent to the sports facilities, the athletes accommodation “Bed & Sports” with 106 beds, theory rooms and a fitness center has now been realized together with the city of Willisau. This project allows the continuous tourist promotion of the region, since these beds are also available to sport tourists (biking, hiking, etc.). With the expansion of overnight accommodation in the affordable price segment, the sports facilities can be used even better, which has a positive effect on operating costs.Every year, over 20,000 athletes benefit of these accommodation options at the Willisau sports center. This offer is also used for cantonal youth & sports camps.The shared booking platform for the offers of Bed & Sports via the city of Willisau is ideal for athletes, clubs and tourists.

Can a low voltage power grid support one street if allhouseholds are using an electric car? A small villagein Lower Austria was selected to test the influenceof e-cars on the power grid. 18 households got 23e-cars for their daily use. A simple control technologymonitored the voltage in the grid and slowed downthe charging process if needed. Within the six weekstryout the voltage in the grid was never in a criticalstate and each morning all cars had a full battery. Theparticipants were enthusiastic and used the electriccars for 90 percent of their everyday trips, with a totalof 53.000 km in 6 weeks.In the future, the field test will be extended. In the villageObersiebenbrunn, it will be analysed how e-mobilitycan be realised in large scale residential buildings; witha focus on charging in underground parking and e-carsharing systems. In a third village called Echsenbach,an intensification of the first field test will be repeated.Winter months will provide insights into extraordinarysituations with additional consumption of heat pumpsand electric cars.

The Lower Austrian Photovoltaic-League highlights the most successful communities in terms of increasing their installed PV capacity. The competition takes place once a year and even small communities have the chance to capture the trophy.In order to balance the chances between small and large communities, the target figure is defined by the yearly gains in installed PV capacity per capita. The champions of each district have the possibility to take part in an award ceremony where they receive their trophies. The most successful district champion will be declared state champion.The requirement for a comprehensive data set is the cooperation with power utilities that report the installed PV capacity in their power grids once a year. The communities have the chance to benefit from dissemination activities like regional press releases and online activities. In 2017 the Lower Austrian Photovoltaics-League was carried out for the sixth time. All Information can be obtained via www.pv-liga.at (Website in German)Highlight of the project: Award ceremony with district-champions that receive the trophy.

La Place des Possibles is a collective project aiming at the creation of a third place dedicated to all citizens of Royans Vercors territory, on 5 thematics : digital skills, recycling, local feeding, solidarities, citizenship, culture and arts. The location in an industrial wasteland, ancient textile factory

Services of General Interest House and Digital support center in Saint Jean en Royans aiming at help people experiencing difficulties with digital tools especially for administrative or social issues.

The cycling route along Drava runs through 4 countries (Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia) and has a total length of about 710 km. The route begins right next to the source of Drava on Toblach Field (Toblach) in Italy. It then continues through Austria, Slovenia, and finally Croatia (where the route is not yet fully arranged and marked). The total length of marked Drava Bike trail is now 510 km. The first 70 km of the cycling route from the source of Drava are very interesting, since we mostly ride downslope. A large section of the cycling route runs through Carinthia and crosses the border to Slovenia at Vič, continuing through Slovenia from Dravograd past Radlje ob Dravi, Maribor and Ptuj, all the way to Ormož and Središče ob Dravi, where it crosses into Croatia after 145 km. The river and the cycling route continue their path towards Varaždin, where the river Mura (also famous for its cycling route – Mura Cycling Route), after 63 km, at Legrad, converges with the river Drava, which then flows into the Danube near Osijek.

Wine-growing Štajerska region boasts being home to the oldest vine in the world and is one of the largest wine-growing regions of Slovenia, famous for its elegant, varietal white wines. It is also a strong wine tradition present here.

The main goal of the project and the common tourist product KULTNATURA is to create and implement new tourist contents in the area of the project, based on the active inclusion of heritage, in conjunction with the content from the hinterland, thus enabling the target groups to experience new experiences and, on the other hand, more efficient marketing of the mentioned, through a sustainable tourism.

Digital Innovation Hub for Agriculture and Food production (DIH AGRIFOOD) brings together Slovenian and European research and development expertise in the field of Agriculture and Food production. The network provides you with the latest knowledge on digitalization of this industry – so called ‘’Smart Agriculture’’. The goal of DIH AGRIFOOD is to represents a One-Stop-Shop providing services to organisations in the region through a multipartner cooperation in order to provide safe, sustainable and quality food.