France ruralités: « villages of the future » programme

June 2023

Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires (ANCT)

To download : villages_avenir_presse.pdf (4.9 MiB)

France ruralités has four main aims:

• providing greater support for rural municipalities in carrying out their projects through the launch of a new ANCT programme, called « Villages of the Future », and the recruitment of 100 ANCT project managers to work alongside the prefects;

• recognising and rewarding the contribution of rural areas to ecological planning by increasing the amount of the biodiversity grant from €40m to €100m;

• provide solutions to the day-to-day problems faced by rural dwellers through concrete and immediate measures;

• make the rural regeneration zones (ZRR) permanent.

Future villages programme

Local engineering support to help rural communities with their projects

Announced by the Prime Minister on 15 June 2023 as part of the France Ruralités plan, Villages d’avenir aims to support rural communities with fewer than 3,500 inhabitants in carrying out their development projects. Managed by the French National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT), Villages d’avenir complements the engineering support provided by the Action cœur de ville, Petites Villes de demain, Territoires d’industrie and Avenir montagnes programmes, as well as bespoke engineering and the Territorial Volunteers in Administration scheme. Villages d’avenir aims to make everyday life easier for elected representatives who are developing their local communities, by supporting their projects and directing them towards existing schemes and grants from the State and other funding partners.

Villages d’Avenir is a label that will raise the profile of the winning towns and make it easier for them to be recognised as dynamic towns undergoing transformation.

Villages d’Avenir aims to support any type of structuring project that meets the day-to-day needs of local residents or brings a new dynamic to the community: a new local service project, refurbishment/upgrading of a structuring building, redevelopment of the village centre or a village square, a cultural and tourist project, a new overall vision for road safety in the village, development of a shop or multi-service point, etc.

2,458 villages awarded the Villages of the Future label

Following a call for applications for the first wave of villages to be awarded the Villages of the Future label, the prefects, in conjunction with the local authorities, identified the villages to be supported. An average of 27 towns with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants have been selected per department. They will receive support under the programme from January 2024 for a period of 12 to 18 months.

120 project managers

to support local authorities 120 project managers (including 20 funded by Cerema) will be recruited from January 2024, 1 or 2 per department, and placed as close as possible to the support teams in the prefecture, sub-prefecture and DDT, to help local authorities with their projects. Villages d’avenir winning municipalities will thus have an identified contact to help them advance their projects with all government departments. These project managers will be able to help you mobilise the various mechanisms and resources needed to facilitate the various stages of project definition and implementation:

• Launching a territorial analysis if necessary,

• mobilising local engineering support or services, in order to draw on existing local resources,

• search for public and private funding (identification of schemes available from Europe, the State and local partners, regions, departments, etc.)

• support in discussions with private partners, help in putting together applications if necessary),

• ensuring that the project complies with administrative regulations (environmental, town planning, safety, etc.),

• making contact with the appropriate contacts at government departments, as well as other funding bodies and organisations that are suited to the project, helping to identify similar projects to facilitate feedback or sources of inspiration,

• information on new schemes that may be of interest to the local authority

Diagnosis of projects to build the support to be mobilised

Once the winners have been announced, the project managers will contact the mayors to work with them to define a local roadmap (number of projects supported, work schedule) and identify the next stages in terms of support (project completion, compliance with regulations, support with the financial round table, identification of the project owner and procedure for selecting a project manager). The support provided will aim to ensure that the project is implemented in a way that respects sustainable development.

Some examples of projects

Refurbishment of buildings

A local authority has a historic communal building that it would like to renovate and transform into a third-party venue (community café, shared vegetable garden, information and reception point for GR walkers). The local authority needs support to give concrete form to the potential use of the site, to plan its management, to work with local residents, to obtain planning permission (despite having a listed heritage site nearby) and to carry out the work.

Local services and shops

The local bar closed a year ago. The local authority has taken over the licence IV and the premises, and wants to reopen a multi-service business and a café. It needs help to find funding to renovate the building, to find the right person to manage the premises, to identify the legal form of relationship with the manager of the premises and to make the building available.

Mobility

A local authority wants to develop soft and pedestrian links in its area, in particular to make it safer for children to go to school. It needs to validate the route with the DDT and the local authorities concerned and obtain funding.

Leisure

A local authority has obtained funding as part of the 2024 Olympic Games to create a multi-activity sports ground and needs support to launch the works contracts (writing the specifications) and organise the management of the use of the ground.

Road safety

A local authority wants to introduce road safety measures in its area in response to local concerns that the village is being driven through too quickly and that there are dangerous and unsafe areas. The local authority needs support to consult with the local population, carry out a diagnosis of the real danger zones and carry out the work.

Tourism and ecological transition

A local authority has a project to develop its ponds for tourism while preserving their biodiversity. It wants to define the project in more detail, improve access to the site and provide various facilities (children’s games, refreshment areas, etc.) while respecting and enhancing the biodiversity of the site.

Sources