Over the past decade, growing inequalities have pushed rural Europe further behind, widening the rural–urban gap by nearly 20% and making access to vital social services increasingly out of reach. To address this, the Horizon Europe-funded INSPIRE project aims to support the sustainable and inclusive development of European rural areas by promoting social well-being and inclusion of their residents, particularly those in vulnerable situations.
As part of the INSPIRE project, European Social Network (ESN) drafted a report entitled “An assessment of social inclusion services, policies, and initiatives in rural Europe”. The report drew on comprehensive research, conducted by the project’s partners, from seven pilot rural territories: Bourgogne, France; Eastern and Midland Region, Ireland; Lubelskie, Poland; Košice, Slovakia; Maramureș and Suceava, Romania; Konitsa and Kythera, Greece.
The findings emphasise the importance of improving working conditions for social workers, increasing capacity in the care sector, and ensuring person-centred, community-based, and home care in rural areas. Cross-country comparisons also show inconsistent definitions of social inclusion concepts, with a limited rural focus, risking gaps in policy coherence and rural inclusion.
Identifying key obstacles to delivering inclusive social services
A shortage of qualified professionals, including in social services, deepens the gap in the delivery of essential support and services for vulnerable populations. High turnover rates, limited incentives, and demanding workloads discourage new entrants and drive existing workers away, leading to understaffing, especially in rural areas, where poor working conditions further exacerbate recruitment and retention challenges. As outlined by a service provider from Slovakia, high turnover creates challenges, including maintaining trust between service providers and users: “Every time we lose a (social) worker, the trust chain breaks and the reintegration process has to start over.”
Limited transportation in rural settings was the most mentioned challenge in the report across all pilot areas, due to its role in isolating communities and restricting access to services. The lack of transportation also adds a burden on care workers, who frequently must travel long distances to reach beneficiaries. A stakeholder from France noted in an interview: “The lack of public transportation options, or funding for service vehicles, complicates their work and limits recruitment opportunities.”
Insufficient capacity in care facilities and home-based services also makes it harder for rural residents to access care and home adaptations. In some regions, funding constraints and a lack of information hinder home-based autonomy. Other gaps include limited preventive and person-centred care, and slow transitions from institutional to community services. Likewise, a scarcity of service options forces many, especially women, to leave the workforce to provide care.
Showcasing innovation and good practices:
More than 450 practices and services were identified in the report, 122 of which were in rural areas. Common characteristics of good practices include adopting a holistic approach to address both the root causes and effects of challenges across interconnected areas such as housing, health, and education, engaging in inclusive design that involves rural residents, providing personalised solutions to fit individual needs and local contexts, and having multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Emerging digital tools provide solutions in an innovative way. For example, inspired by the model implemented by ESN member Agintzari in the Basque Country, another ESN member, iSocial, is implementing the project Vincles in the Catalan Pyrenees. It consists of a detection tool to combat loneliness among older people by supporting social services in early detection of at-risk older residents through geolocation, raising awareness, encouraging community activity, and providing professional support.
Fostering a community-centred approach
Stakeholders across the seven rural regions in the INSPIRE study recommended establishing community-based service hubs for coordinated support, investing in flexible rural transportation, improving funding accessibility, attracting qualified social care and healthcare professionals, and enhancing outreach to inform communities about services. Expanding EU funding, such as the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), simplifying application procedures, and providing targeted capacity-building support to empower rural organisations to apply for and effectively manage such programmes were also suggested.
First and foremost, such initiatives should be responsive to community needs, including for hard-to-reach populations, putting service users at the heart of provision. This can be achieved if services are co-created with the users. Although there are common needs across rural areas, the research also showed that each locality has unique requirements. As ESN CEO, Alfonso Lara-Montero, highlights in his latest editorial: “Social need is contextual, and context lives locally.”
For more details, please read the report, learn about the project’s upcoming activities and join the INSPIRE Network of Interests.
