Smart Villages

Smart Villages

To understand what we’re trying to do with Smart Villages, it is important to first understand what a Smart Village is and why they have been so successful across the European Union. Smart Villages is funded by the LEADER programme and the following is a short summary of the meaning and core concepts attached to Smart Villages:

Resilience through Innovation

Smart Villages are communities in rural areas that use innovative solutions to improve their resilience, building on local strengths and opportunities.

Why Smart Villages?

The motivation for the smart village concept came from the realisation that traditional methodologies for rural development weren’t working. The imposition of policies for rural areas from ‘Central Government’ without a proper understanding of the requirements of those communities was, at best, ineffective and, at worst, having a harmful effect on rural communities.

Meaning of a Smart Village

- Thinking beyond the village. Smart Villages understand that they exist surrounded by the countryside, other villages, towns and cities and so they also activate these linkages,

- Building new forms of cooperation and alliances – between farmers and other rural stakeholders; between municipalities, between the private sector and civil society and so on,

- Integrating the bottom-up and the top-down approaches,

- Smart Villages are place sensitive, they take stock of local assets, use the best available local knowledge and take the initiative to shape the surrounding reality.

10 Core priciples of Smart Villages

  • 1. Leveraging Local Assets

    Creating a Register of Local Assets

    Smart Villages have a well managed register of local assets and regularly review these assets to ensure they form part of local action plans.

  • 2. Effective Internal Communications

    An Effective Communication System

    Smart Villages have effective internal communication systems to allow all local stakeholders to be regularly updated on local activities and development projects that interest them.

  • 3. Effective External Communications

    Clearly defined public relations roles

    Smart Villages have a clear external communications system to engage with other communities, regional stakeholders, and visitors in order to maximise opportunities for the community.

  • 4. Knowledge Sharing

    Learning from Experience

    Smart Villages readily share experience and knowledge. It is a community that actively seeks to learn from the experience of similar teams in communities locally, regionally, and internationally.

  • 5. Digital Facilitation

    Digital Tools

    Smart Villages leverage the benefits of a variety of digital tools to help understand, manage, and develop local opportunities for all.

  • 6. Data & Feedback Metrics to Maximise Performance

    [The Ease and Value of Data Analysis]

    Smart Villages use a framework to effectively capture local data. They use this data to make evidence-based decisions on all aspects of local development. Suitable data can be gathered through stakeholder surveys and from public ‘open data’ sources e.g. the census, live register data, etc.

  • 7. Valuing Local Human Resources by Encouraging Participation & Supporting Transition

    [How to inspire, onboard, and manage volunteers]

    Smart Villages actively seek to understand and document the needs, interests and skills of local residents with the aim of supporting all local volunteers to play an active role in the development of their community. The community understands the importance of effective management and training of local volunteers. They have a clear onboard framework for local volunteers and have a proactive succession planning approach.

  • 8. Collaborative Community Planning, Management, Ownership Structures & Roles

    - Smart Planning

    - Oversight and Governance

    - Community Projects Pipeline

    - Consensus Management

  • 9. Transparent Financial Management

    Transparency and Efficiency

    Smart Villages have transparent accounting procedures and policies. They employ good financial decision-making procedures to support the community in raising funds and ensure these funds deliver maximum benefit.

  • 10. Smart Region Collaboration

    Participation & Collaboration in Developing Smart Regions

    Collaboration: Smart Villages actively seek to support the development of other smart communities in the area to create smart regions.

    Grants: Smart Villages leverage the available support provided by regional organisations (including local development companies and local government) to help the community achieve its goals.