Rural-urban partnership: key to a prosperous future for Europe

Europe is a complex patchwork of urban and rural areas, where people live in different ways but face common challenges. City- and country-dwellers are mutually dependent, and both sides need to cooperate to achieve a sustainable future for everyone. The European Union’s Rurban initiative fosters formal and informal partnerships around a whole string of issues such as research and innovation, energy, water supply, food production, transport, tourism and leisure, and many more. Through its cohesion policy, the EU invests more than one-third of its budget in promoting smart, sustainable and inclusive development across Europe. The aim is for all regions, whether urban or rural, to have equal access to the benefits of growth.