COST C27

The Action tackles the problem of minor deprived communities' protection and rehabilitation and is geared to sustainable development. The Action is aware of EU regional policy goals for economic and social cohesion and for avoiding deprivation phenomena, and of the fact that European rural areas still contain a huge part of the Union's population.

The main objective of the Action is to explore, assess and improve the different policy options geared to sustainable development that are open to small deprived communities.

The Action is targeted to single out and assess the sustainability of successful development policies either theoretical or already implemented elsewhere.

The methodology used is both highly scientific and pragmatic. In order to offset any lack in technical expertise, the Action aims at reviewing success stories and assessing their transferability. The support of existing private institutions is deemed essential. Where this is missing, the Action will set up private institutions and provide basic training so as to make them useful in the roles they are supposed to perform.