Communities-based rural regeneration: the experience of "Borgofuturo +" project in Marche Region

Rural areas are rich in cultural and natural heritage, local traditions and productions, but at the same time they face demographic and socio-economic challenges that bring to depopulation, ageing, disengagement, reduced service provision and inhibited accessibility. To counter this process, in the last few years several initiatives have been raised, and the debate around this issue has intensified following the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper presents the experience of “Borgofuturo +”, an initiative launched in Summer 2020 to build an itinerant art and music festival in 5 small towns of the Fiastra Valley, in Marche Region. Building on the work of the Association BorgoFuturo and embedded in the methodological framework of the H2020 RURITAGE project, Borgofuturo + aims at setting up a participatory process to build a coherent and shared vision for the future of the Valley. This study reports some outcomes of this process, framing priorities and recommendations for the regeneration of the involved territory.