This document (Deliverable D5.1 - GRANULAR project) provides a concise overview of both the definition and background of rural proofing (Section 2), and proposes steps and a protocol for an overall GRANULAR rural proofing methodology (Section 3, 4, and 5). The rural proofing methodology developed is designed to ensure that the needs of rural areas are not overlooked nor adversely impacted upon when policies are being developed, and that their diversity is fully encompassed into existing or new policies. The elements are grouped under the headings of the four pillars of the European Union Long Term Vision for Rural Areas (LTVRA). The building blocks of the LTVRA are included under their relevant pillar, and those which are drawn from the GRANULAR Rural Compass are allocated to the pillar which is likely to be the most relevant. This approach is to enable the final narratives on rural proofing to be developed with a view to their articulation with respect to the framework of the LTVRA (GRANULAR, 2021). In their overall assessment, GRANULAR project’s set of Multi-Actor Labs (Living Labs and Replication Labs) are asked to comment on the suitability of the use of the four pillars in rural proofing. A series of annexes complement the content of this Deliverable, providing resources and tools for implementing the rural proofing methodology. Guidelines for rural proofing (Annex 1) have been produced to take users through the process to produce an output of the potential impacts of policies and initiatives on different types of rural areas, negative or positive, and evidence of characteristics required of policies such that they create positive effects on rural areas. The former will be reported in 2025 in GRANULAR Deliverable D5.2, and the latter will be reported in in 2027 in Deliverable D5.3 in a presentation of the tailoring of rural policies. As part of the rural proofing guidelines, a rural proofing tool has been compiled in MS Excel, containing in the four GRANULAR rural proofing steps. The steps provide information on the policy or initiative and: i) a high level assessment of whether it may have impacts (positive or negative) on rural areas; ii) a summary of the policy or initiative; iii) the responses to the proofing questions. The output of following the guidelines is an overall assessment of the policy or initiative. This comprises a narrative summary, descriptions of the types of impacts, quantitative and qualitative estimates of the magnitude of such impacts (positive or negative), and narratives of means of mitigation. Annex 3 provides guidelines for engaging members of the Living and Replication Labs. Finally, Annex 4 offers an overview of tools used in similar initiatives to rural proofing.
Martino et al. (Thu,) studied this question.