---
id: ch3-slovakia
type: spine
title: "Slovakia: turning a rural vision into national governance"
readingTime: 3
standalone: true
core: true
teaser: "The only national-scale pilot: how a 2040 vision for rural Slovakia found its way into ministries' working groups."
voice: universal
parent: null
recallQ: "What is the Slovak pilot trying to put into practice, and through which governance proposals?"
recallA: "The Vision for More Attractive Rural Areas in Slovakia 2040. Its RAP, 'From Dialogue to Action', proposes a Cross-Sector Rural Development Council, a national Digital Innovation Hub, a formal AKIS platform and a Smart Village roll-out, to break the silos between ministries."
highlights:
  - "The only pilot working at national scale: 2,890 municipalities, 60 % of the territory highlands"
  - "The Vision 2040 came out of PoliRural's foresight process; the problem now is institutional silos"
  - "Brief recommends a Cross-Sector Rural Development Council, a national DIH and Smart Village grants in 75 % of municipalities by 2030"
  - "Reported uptake: EU Rural Pact Good Practice, National Tourism Strategy 2035, post-2027 rural policy working group"
status: accepted
concept: slovakia-pilot
conceptTitle: "The Slovak pilot"
parents: pilot-network
lang: en
lens: slovakia
depth: standard
formalism: none
visuality: balanced
lengthBand: standard
genre: explainer
state: core
carriers: prose|table|image
---

Slovakia is the only pilot that works at **national scale**. The country has 5.4 million inhabitants and 2,890 municipalities, 138 of them towns. Highlands and mountains cover 60 % of its territory, and the policy brief notes that 40 % of the population lives in its predominantly rural territory.

![A rural craft workshop in Slovakia](images/pilots/slovakia.webp)
*A rural craft workshop in Slovakia. Photo: PoliRuralPlus pilot materials (RP2), poliruralplus.eu*

| | |
|---|---|
| Territory | Slovakia (national) |
| Partners | Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, SUA (lead); Rural Youth Parliament in Slovakia, SRY |
| Theme | Cross-sector governance for rural areas |
| RAP | "From Dialogue to Action: Strengthening Rural–Urban Linkages through Cross-Sector and Multi-Actor Cooperation and Innovation" |
| Open call | Outreach: DigiStake (CEDA), online stakeholder collaboration space |

## A vision that needs an institution

The **Vision for More Attractive Rural Areas in Slovakia 2040** was written in a mission-oriented foresight process in the predecessor project PoliRural, in parallel with the EU's [long-term vision for rural areas](#c/eu-rural-policy). The challenge now is institutional. Ministries, funding streams and advisory bodies work in silos. D5.1 records the most ambitious aim: anchoring the Vision in constitutional law so that it survives changes of government.

## What the plan sets out

The RAP pursues three objectives: stakeholder engagement and a shared vision aligned with the EU Rural Pact; digital and smart transformation through a Smart Villages framework linked to Smart Cities; and cross-sector cooperation through a modernised AKIS. The policy brief (RAP 3.0, June 2025) recommends:

- a **Cross-Sector Rural Development Council** and a national **Digital Innovation Hub** to steer the Smart Village roll-out;
- a formal AKIS platform linking research institutes, advisers and farmers;
- Smart Village grants in 75 % of municipalities by 2030;
- a refundable 25 % tax credit for certified agri-tech, bio-economy and circular-economy investments;
- scaling up the portal **atraktivnyvidiek.sk** into an open-data platform for consultation and co-creation.

## Where things stand

By 2026 the RAP had gone through five versions, each revised after stakeholder consultations. The pilot reports concrete uptake: the Vision is recognised as a **Good Practice under the EU Rural Pact** and was built into the preparation of the National Tourism Strategy 2035. The pilot sits in the national working group preparing the National Rural Policy Plan (post-2027), the Governmental Council for NGOs adopted a resolution, and work with the Ministry of Interior has made progress towards a legal definition of rural areas (see [defining rural](#c/defining-rural)). More than 30 participatory events reached nearly 1,000 stakeholders; the DigiStake project improved atraktivnyvidiek.sk.

The Council and the Digital Innovation Hub are still recommendations, and constitutional anchoring is not among the results the pilot reports. Slovakia shows what a pilot can achieve through policy channels rather than new infrastructure.

**Sources:**
- D7.3 Policy Brief No. 1, Annex 2 "Strengthening Rural-Urban Linkages in Slovakia". [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/349/D7.3_Policy_Brief_No.1.pdf)
- D5.1 Prepared pilot by Stakeholder Multi-Actor Approach, §2.2 "Slovakia". [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/150/D5.1_Prepared_pilot_by_Stakeholder_Multi-Actor_Approach_v1.0.pdf)
- D7.4 Exploitation plans and business models, edition 1, §3 Table 10. [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/342/D7.4_Exploitation_plans__business_models_edition_1_v1.pdf)
- PoliRural+ website, pilot page "Slovakia – national pilot" (2024 and 2026 texts). [poliruralplus.eu](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/)