MATILDE Manifesto calls to redefine EU’s mountainous and rural areas

Stakeholders of the MATILDE project shared an open declaration in the form of a manifesto.

As a project which aims producing scientific-based knowledge and enhancing socio-cultural change about the perception and role of foreign immigration in rural, mountainous and remote regions of Europe, MATILDE tries to redefine the role of these marginalized regions within the process of EU building, in particular in times of pandemic and necessary social resilience.

Not as predefined presuppositions but as key assumptions, with 10 theses MATILDE stakeholders assume that immigration actually affects the overall development of rural, remote and mountain regions of Europe.

MATILDE also highlight immigration’s potential contribution to societal change, economic transformations and policies back at the center of the construction of a European Union, which is experiencing an unparalleled socio-economic and health crisis.

MATILDE Manifesto with its 10 theses will be developed as a collective volume that will be published in the very next months.

You can read the details about the manifesto from our article by clicking here.

10 Manifesto:
  • Remoteness needs to be reframed as a resource and place-based value for Europe.
  • Rural, mountain and remote regions should be considered as the new heart of Europe.
  • It is time for a new rural and mountain narrative.
  • International migration to rural and mountain areas is an important but neglected phenomenon.
  • Migration impact assessment is a powerful tool for local development.
  • Inclusion of migrants into rural/mountain territories is a multi-level and multidimensional process.
  • International migration has to be considered as one expression among diverse m
  • Rural-urban relationships are fundamental assets in terms of policies aiming at the inclusion of even remote places.
  • Social and economic development, attractiveness and collective well-being of remote, rural and mountain regions strongly depend on foundational economy.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic can be not only a threat but also an opportunity for remote, rural and mountain regions of Europe, and for their inhabitants.
About MATILDE
  • MATILDE is a 3-year project funded by EU Horizon 2020 facility, focusing on the impact of migration on the local development of rural and mountain regions. The project develops and tests a transdisciplinary conceptual and methodological framework for a multidimensional assessment of the economic and social impacts of Third Country Nationals (TNCs).
  • MATILDE aims to examine how migration impacts local development and territorial cohesion in European rural and mountain regions, as well as to improve integration and local development.
  • MATILDE is a consortium with 25 scientific and local project partners, 19 supporting partners in 10 European countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Norway, Italy, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Turkey.
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