A new tool to characterise rural diversity has been added up to the SHERPA’s main results!
The tool helps you to examine the characteristics of rural areas across Europe.
This tool was initially designed to examine rural areas covered by the SHERPA Multi-Actor Platforms. However, the tool can also be useful to researchers, local actors, and policy-makers to deepen their understanding of rural territories and their characteristics across all European regions.
How does it do it?
The tool gathers data from different European databases and sources (i.e. Eurostat, Joint Research Council) and provides an immediate assessment of the selected territories by scoring their characteristics in terms of specific indicators. The information covers all EU NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) regions and levels, and it is presented in the form of a ranking system with four scores (very high, high, medium, low).
What are the indicators included in the tool?
Indicators included in the tool are demographic trends, climate change and environmental services, shift in production, infrastructures and services, digitalisation, inequalities and wellbeing, land use.
How does the tool look like and how can it be used?
The tool consists of an excel file with a set of indicators related to different key topics and a manual that helps you to use it! This tool can be a resource for several purposes. Few examples: to cluster territories with similar characteristics, to compare areas with different features, to identify challenges at local level, to support brainstorming or definition of strategies for private businesses, local administrations, NGOs and other actors. Currently, other ways to use the SHERPA Characterisation tool for rural areas beyond the project’s Multi-Actor Platforms are being explored.