Danube4Rural.com presented at the Macro-Regional and Sea Basin Strategies Days 2026 in Brussels

The Danube4Rural.com project was presented in Brussels on 8 and 9 July 2026 at the Macro-Regional and Sea Basin Strategies Days, the annual event co-organised by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE).

The event brings together representatives of the eight EU Macro-Regional and Sea Basin Strategies, EU institutions, national and regional authorities and stakeholders, with this year's edition focusing on the positioning of the Strategies in the post-2027 programming period.

In the networking village accompanying the event, the Municipality of Moravske Toplice presented the Danube4Rural.com project at a joint stand with the Municipality of Beltinci, which showcased the recently concluded RurALL project (Interreg Danube Region Programme). The two neighbouring municipalities from the Pomurje region in Slovenia used the joint presentation to highlight a challenge shared across the entire Danube region: rural depopulation and the need to create conditions for people, especially young people, to build their future in rural communities.

The stand attracted considerable interest from event participants, offering an opportunity to present the project's objectives and approach to a European audience, establish contacts with potential partners and exchange experiences with practitioners working on rural development across the Danube region and beyond.

The participation in Brussels also underlined the relevance of the project within the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), demonstrating how transnational cooperation delivers concrete value for rural territories, a message of particular importance as discussions on the future of European territorial cooperation beyond 2027 gather pace.