Renewable energy communities (RECs) are the European flagship answer to the dual crisis of climate change and energy poverty. Directive RED II made them legal across the EU. In Italy, legislative decree 199/2021 turned them into national law. By 2026, hundreds of RECs are operating across the continent, with thousands more in the pipeline.

MIGRA-LINK aims to bring together rural and small/intermediate municipalities that want to improve how migrant and foreign residents access municipal services, information, participation channels and community life. In many rural territories, migration is closely linked to employment, housing, schools, health, language barriers and everyday coexistence, but local responses are often fragmented across different services and actors.

FOOD-LINK aims to bring together small and intermediate municipalities that want to strengthen local food resilience, short supply chains and rural value chains. Many territories have strong food-production assets, but these are not always well connected to local consumption, schools, public institutions, markets, youth opportunities or wider local development. Baena, Spain, would contribute a rural olive-producing perspective through an Olive Food Resilience Lab linked to the DOP Baena identity.