---
id: ch1-polirural-plus
type: spine
title: "PoliRural+ in one page: 36 months, 20 partners, 9 pilots"
readingTime: 2
standalone: true
core: true
teaser: "A Horizon Europe Innovation Action led by CTU Prague that takes the rural foresight of PoliRural and extends it to whole rural-urban regions."
voice: universal
parent: null
diagram: diagram-consortium-map
recallQ: "What is PoliRural+, and how does it extend its predecessor PoliRural?"
recallA: "A Horizon Europe Innovation Action (GA 101136910, 2024–2026, coordinated by CTU Prague, 20 partners in 13 countries). It takes PoliRural's foresight process and ICT toolbox, validated by 12 rural action plans, and applies it to regions that include urban and rural areas, through 9 pilots."
highlights:
  - "Grant Agreement 101136910, Horizon Europe Cluster 6, Innovation Action, 1 Jan 2024 – 31 Dec 2026"
  - "20 beneficiaries from 13 countries, coordinated by Czech Technical University in Prague"
  - "Predecessor PoliRural (H2020, June 2019 – Sept 2022) validated its toolbox with 12 Regional Action Plans"
  - "9 pilot regions, 8 of them continuing from PoliRural"
status: accepted
concept: polirural-plus-project
conceptTitle: "The PoliRural+ project"
lang: en
lens: generic
depth: intro..standard
formalism: none
visuality: balanced
lengthBand: standard
genre: explainer
state: core
carriers: prose|table|diagram
---

**PoliRural+** (PoliRuralPlus in the Grant Agreement) is a Horizon Europe **Innovation Action** under grant agreement No **101136910**. It is funded from Cluster 6, call HORIZON-CL6-2023-COMMUNITIES-01, and managed by the European Research Executive Agency (REA). It runs for **36 months, from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2026**. In October 2026 it is in month 34, and its final conference is set for 20 November 2026 at CTU Prague (hybrid).

## The facts

| | |
|---|---|
| Coordinator | Czech Technical University in Prague (CVUT) |
| Consortium | 20 beneficiaries from 13 countries: CZ, IE, SK, EL, IT, FI, DE, NO, PL, ES, BE, LV, MT |
| Partner types | universities and research bodies, public bodies, non-profits, companies |
| Total eligible cost / EU contribution | EUR 6,201,312.50 / EUR 5,498,673.50 |
| Support to third parties | EUR 900,000 for [open calls](#c/open-calls), at most EUR 60,000 per recipient |
| Pilots | 9 regions, from County Monaghan (IE) to Malta and Gozo |

The project is steered by a Project Management Office, a Project Executive Board of work-package leaders and an Advisory Board. Who does what is covered in [the consortium](#c/consortium).

## What it is for

The project website states its core mission: to tackle **administrative fragmentation, inequality and inefficiencies in public service coordination** between rural and urban areas. It uses a set of digital tools (AI, GIS, Internet of Things, data analytics) and **9 pilot projects** that test an EU-wide integrated approach to territorial planning and action foresight. Each pilot writes a [Regional Action Plan](#c/regional-action-plan) with its stakeholders. The goals are broken down in the [seven objectives](#c/seven-objectives).

## The "plus"

**PoliRural** (Horizon 2020, 1 June 2019 – 30 September 2022) developed an action-oriented **Foresight Process and ICT Tool Box**, validated by **12 Regional Action Plans** focused on rural areas and people. Its recommendations included new governance models, stronger local and regional capacity for integrated strategies, and a firmer evidence base on rural-urban development. PoliRural+ follows that agenda and widens the scope "to regions that include both urban and rural areas, and anything in between" (website, Objectives). Eight of the nine pilots continue from PoliRural. Chapter 3 covers the [pilot network](#c/pilot-network).

The project's tools, from the [JackDaw](#c/jackdaw) geospatial agent to the MAATool, are covered in chapters 4 and 5.

**Sources:**
- Project fact sheet (Grant Agreement 101136910, facts as published on CORDIS): programme, dates, consortium, budget, pilots, governance bodies
- PoliRural+ website, Project description and Background of PoliRuralPlus — [poliruralplus.eu](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/)