More than a Village was a project funded by the Interreg Central Europe 2021–2027 Programme, completed in March 2026, which brought together partners from Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy to develop and test innovative Smart Village models aimed at strengthening the competitiveness, economic resilience, and attractiveness of rural areas.

The project focused on establishing a common approach to the smart transition of rural territories by developing and testing three pilot models across five pilot areas. These pilots addressed key themes such as business innovation, smart tourism, and smart agriculture. The pilot activities engaged local authorities, businesses, civil society organisations, and citizens through a participatory and multi-level governance approach.

Poliedra led Work Package 1 – “Building: Joint Approach and Strategy to Make Villages Smarter”, coordinating the development of the common methodological framework, the definition of analytical tools, and the engagement of local stakeholders across the partner countries. This work resulted in the Joint Strategy for Smart Village Transition in Central Europe and a Transnational Action Plan, which provide the main reference framework for the transferability and replication of the project’s Smart Village model. Among its key achievements, the project demonstrated how digital and collaborative solutions can help address challenges such as population decline, limited digitalisation, and the weakness of rural entrepreneurial ecosystems. The pilot actions tested tools to support SMEs, digital platforms for sustainable tourism, territorial innovation hubs, and solutions for the modernisation of agri-food value chains.

The experiences and lessons learned from the pilot territories led to a set of policy recommendations for public authorities and decision-makers. These recommendations highlight the need to invest in digital infrastructure, skills development, youth entrepreneurship, smart tourism, and agri-food innovation to ensure the long-term integration of the Smart Village approach into rural development policies across Central Europe.