RURALISE is a research project funded by Horizon Europe that addresses housing challenges in European rural areas, with particular attention to affordability, the quality of the existing housing stock and opportunities for regeneration. The project brings together 17 European partners to develop knowledge, tools and strategies that promote fairer, more sustainable and inclusive housing conditions.

Across many European regions, depopulation, demographic ageing and declining access to services intersect with new pressures on property markets and access to housing. The spread of second homes, the expansion of short-term tourist rentals and changing patterns of residential mobility contribute to new socio-spatial inequalities. In several contexts, vacant or underused buildings coexist with difficulties in accessing adequate housing.

RURALISE approaches housing as a central dimension of territorial transformation, closely linked to demographic dynamics, access to services and public policy. The project adopts a comparative, multidisciplinary approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, research into housing systems and governance frameworks, and participatory processes. Activities involve six pilot areas in Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Norway, where regeneration strategies tailored to local contexts will be developed and tested.

The research team contributes to the project’s conceptual and interpretative framework, focusing particularly on socio-demographic and cultural transformations, and coordinates activities to collect and analyse spatial and housing data. The work is organised around three dimensions – Spaces, Homes, People – to understand the relationships between settlement patterns, housing systems and populations through indicators, multiscalar analysis and territorial profiles.

In line with CRAFT’s research perspectives, RURALISE investigates the mechanisms through which fragility and inequality are produced and reproduced in rural areas, while exploring the conditions that can foster new capacities for regeneration. Through engagement with local communities, the project examines approaches to the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of buildings, collaborative housing models and innovative governance tools.

The results will feed into the Ruralise Studio, a digital platform bringing together data, analysis, practices and decision-support tools to facilitate knowledge exchange and the transfer of experiences across European rural territories.