The 9th meeting of the ENRD Thematic Group (TG) on Smart Villages, 19-20 November 2019, offered the opportunity to explore how Finland is preparing the support framework for Smart Villages in the next programming period.

Participants visited two of the villages taking part in the Finnish Smart Villages competition, Vähikkälä and Teuro-Kuuslammi, and heard about their vision for the future. The Finnish Managing Authority presented its ideas for helping villages to fulfil their visions for the future by designing a dedicated framework for Smart Villages in the future CAP Strategic Plan.

There are many Member States exploring how to programme support for Smart Villages in the future CAP Strategic Plans and further exchanges and networking are needed in order to share ideas and lessons learned.