– The online event, organised as part of European Sustainable Development Week, brought together partners and experts from Spain, Portugal and France to discuss rural innovation and active ageing
– Representatives from public institutions, universities and European organisations shared solutions to tackle depopulation and improve quality of life in the Sudoe area
9 October 2025. The event ‘RuralSilverHubS Connections – Partnerships for the Goals’, held online on 8 October, brought together European partners, associates and stakeholders involved in rural development and the Silver Economy, as part of European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW).
Organised by the Finnova Foundation, this event highlighted the importance of transnational alliances in building more inclusive, resilient and sustainable rural areas, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The session, which featured multilingual automatic translation provided by ENETRÉS, was moderated by Lola Bordás, Marketing Director at Finnova, and brought together renowned speakers such as Juan Manuel Revuelta, Managing Director of the Finnova Foundation; Dolors Micola (Diputació de Tarragona); Iván Sá Vieira (Aliados Consulting); Breixo Martins (University of Vigo); Raphaël Rogay (Gérontopôle Nouvelle-Aquitaine); Nacho de Julián (Casa Mediterráneo); Enrique Nieto (Rural Pact Community); and José Miguel Pérez, Mayor of San Xoán de Río.
The event began with an institutional welcome by Dolors Micola, head of the Department of Employment and Entrepreneurship at the Diputació de Tarragona, the lead entity of the RuralSilverHubS project, who highlighted the role of territorial cooperation as a driver of rural innovation.
In the first part, the partners presented the objectives and progress of the RuralSilverHubS project, which addresses the challenges of ageing and depopulation in rural areas through innovative and sustainable solutions that promote the Silver Economy and improve the quality of life of people over 55.
The second part gave the floor to the associated partners, who shared good practices and experiences of collaboration in social innovation, territorial cohesion and rural development. Finally, the third part, ‘Rural Connections’, focused on networks and communities actively working to revitalise rural areas.
About RuralSilverHubS
RuralSilverHubS is a European project under the Interreg Sudoe VI-B 2021–2027 Programme, lasting 30 months (2025–2027) and with a budget of €1.3 million, 75% of which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The project aims to address the challenges of ageing and depopulation in rural areas through innovative solutions that strengthen the Silver Economy, improve the quality of life of people over 55 and revitalise the regions.
The consortium is made up of nine entities from Spain, Portugal and France: the Diputació de Tarragona (lead partner), SODEBUR, the University of Vigo, the Finnova Foundation, the Gérontopôle Nouvelle-Aquitaine, SilverOcc Clusterlab, AMAL, the CIM do Ave and the Portuguese Red Cross.
About European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW)
European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW) is an initiative launched in 2015 by Austria, France and Germany, with the support of the European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN). Every year, between 18 September and 8 October, it provides a platform to promote commitments to sustainable development across Europe and encourage collective action around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In its ten years of existence, ESDW has recorded more than 50,000 events, involving millions of people across Europe.