Rural areas are at the heart of the European Union’s objectives for territorial cohesion, sustainability, and social inclusion.
Yet the indicators used to design, monitor, and evaluate EU policies often fail to capture the full complexity of rural realities.
Traditional economic measures, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), remain dominant in policy assessment, while
newer performance-based funding frameworks increasingly rely on nationally defined indicators that risk overlooking sub
regional diversity and lived experience in rural territories.
This policy bootcamp responds to the growing need for more meaningful, place-sensitive indicators to guide rural
policymaking. It brings together EU institutions, researchers, and practitioners to critically examine what should be
measured, how it is currently measured, and how measurement frameworks could be improved to better reflect
rural wellbeing and development outcomes.
The bootcamp is structured around two complementary webinars that together form a coherent learning and policy
reflection:
- Webinar A – Beyond GDP metrics for rural areas: measure what (really) matters (10:00-11:30)
- Webinar B – Performance indicators in the new MFF: What do they mean for the future of rural areas? (11:30-13:00)