Arco
Academia Rural Colaborativa
For dynamic and resilient rural futures
The Collaborative Rural Academy (ARCo) is an intermunicipal strategy, funded by the public Partnerships for Non-Urban Cohesion instrument (Alentejo 2030), that seeks to stimulate rural entrepreneurship linked to agroecology and create structural conditions for people to settle in the Baixo Alentejo and Alentejo Litoral regions through professional integration.
The strategy is implemented through three structuring projects: two Collaborative Rural Academies, located in Odemira and Mértola, and an Innovation Village in Santa Cruz (Almodôvar), with specific programming for community engagement and small-scale entrepreneurship. These spaces function as welcoming points in the territory, where an ecosystem of entrepreneurs, technicians, and partners empower people (residents or newcomers) through professional learning experiences linked to agroecology and economic activities culturally relevant to the territory.
Changing perceptions of the potential of rural life
In collaboration with public entities, companies, third-sector organizations, and educational institutions, Terra Sintrópica coordinates the governance structure of ARCo, promoting innovative models of social cohesion and economic regeneration in territories susceptible to depopulation, economic fragility, and social isolation.
ARCo seeks to transform perceptions about the possibilities of rural life, building bridges between traditional knowledge and innovation, and contributing to the development of collective and multi-sectoral responses to the structural socioeconomic challenges of these territories.
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