Practice Abstracts Batch 2

This document (Deliverable D6.4 - GRANULAR project) presents the second batch of GRANULAR Practice Abstracts. It contains sixteen abstracts prepared in the EIP-AGRI common format. Together with the seven abstracts in Deliverable D6.3, it completes the project target of twenty-three Practice Abstracts. Batch 2 brings together work from the seven Living Labs, nine Replication Labs and project partners. It is organised by content rather than by individual Lab. The eight thematic abstracts trace how challenges shared across rural Europe play out differently from place to place. They cover wellbeing, the green transition, natural resources, climate change, demographic change, tourism, agri-food systems and rural attractiveness. The eight methodological abstracts present tools and approaches developed or tested in GRANULAR. These include novel data collection, coordination, data capacity building, integrating data into decision-making, rural proofing, cross-visits, and reflection on the experience of the Living Labs and Replication Labs. Across the abstracts, one main lesson is that rural diversity becomes more visible when evidence is produced at a scale relevant to local decision-making. Municipal averages and national indicators can hide important differences between villages, municipalities, coastal and inland areas, or groups of residents. To identify these differences and support more targeted action, the Labs drew on many sources at once: official statistics, administrative records, geospatial and mobility data, online platforms, surveys, interviews and the knowledge of local actors. The abstracts also show that useful evidence can often be produced from sources that already exist. However, data alone is not enough. It needs to be interpreted with local actors and linked to the institutions responsible for planning and policy. The methods can be used in other rural areas, but they should be adapted to local data availability, technical capacity, governance arrangements and community priorities. The abstracts provide practical findings, tools and recommendations for rural communities, practitioners and policy-makers. They support the wider GRANULAR objective of giving rural actors reusable data and approaches for place-based public action, including action linked to ecological, digital and social transitions. Each one-page summary will reach practitioners across Europe through the EIP-AGRI database of the EU CAP Network.