D.2.1.2 - PP3 Community Workshop in Jelićka: Co‑Creating Practical Solutions for Better Rural Living

Danube4Rural.com PP3 Development agency of the city of Prijedor "PREDA" recently hosted a community workshop in Jelićka (City of Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina), bringing together local residents, civil society groups, a local business representative to validate proposed solutions for improving quality of life in rural areas.

The event is part of Activity 2.1 Quality of Life. The purpose of community events in territorial areas was to collect ideas from citizens and local stakeholders on how to involve them and make rural communities more attractive for remote workers.

Who joined the event 👥

The workshop gathered representatives of civil society and community organisations, a local enterprise, individual citizens and the PREDA facilitation team, all meeting in the Jelićka Community Hall.

What the community validated 💬

Through a structured World Café discussion, participants reviewed proposed ideas and validated one priority solution in each domain: housing, green environment, well-being, culture and education, and digital infrastructure. A clear preference emerged for practical, community-based pilots that build on existing spaces, local knowledge, and small-scale testing instead of large infrastructure investments.

Key solutions endorsed by participants 🌱

🏡Housing: Rural Housing Stock Activation Catalogue as a realistic first step, focusing on a public-interest catalogue of underused rural dwellings, including information on building condition, internet access and proximity to services.

🌳Green environment: Rural Green Belonging Programme, using small green and volunteer actions such as clean-up days, planting and shared space maintenance to improve public spaces and strengthen a sense of belonging.

🫶Well-being: Remote Workers Social Integration Programme, with small, regular activities (coffee meetups, volunteer work, thematic walks) to help newcomers build everyday links with local residents.

🎨Culture & education: Rural Knowledge Exchange Programme, a two-way learning model where remote workers share digital and online work skills, while residents contribute traditional knowledge, local products and stories.

⚡Digital infrastructure: Pop-up Co-working Spaces, temporary co-working days in existing community facilities to test demand, internet quality and user needs before larger investment, ideally combined with social and green activities.

Main outcomes and next steps

🚀Across all domains, participants agreed on a common logic: start small, use what already exists, test demand and build stronger links between newcomers and residents. The event confirmed that integrated pilots – for example, combining a co-working day, a local-host welcome, a knowledge exchange session and a green community action – can improve rural quality of life and support remote work in practice.