THRIVE – Talent Harvest: Rural Intangible Heritage and Value Empowerment

THRIVE – Talent Harvest: Rural Intangible Heritage and Value Empowerment is a European initiative designed to enhance the attractiveness and resilience of rural areas by preserving and promoting endangered intangible cultural heritage (ICH), while also fostering innovation and talent development. The project aims to cultivate, nurture, and retain talent in rural regions by leveraging culture, creativity, and digital tools, with a focus on empowering vulnerable groups such as women, NEETs, and migrants. Through a territorial strategy, THRIVE supports the empowerment of local communities and contributes to bridging the urban-rural divide.

THRIVE brings together five organizations from across the EU to share expertise and create a replicable model for revitalizing rural territories. The province of Bergamo in Italy has been selected as the pilot site, due to the project’s multidisciplinary nature and the need for focused, integrated implementation. This territory will serve as the testing ground for developing a comprehensive territorial model that combines cultural preservation with talent development.

Key activities include the creation of a territorial marketing plan, participatory mapping of intangible cultural heritage, the exchange of best practices at the European level, and empowerment initiatives such as a Digital Academy and a Bootcamp aimed at developing digital and entrepreneurial skills. Capitalization and replicability events will support the adoption of the THRIVE strategy in other rural European regions.

The consortium comprises five core partners: the public bodies Provincia di Bergamo (Italy) and the Municipality of Fundão (Portugal); the University of Valencia (Spain) as the scientific partner; and two companies specializing in ICT and digital innovation—ARCTUR (Slovenia) and Enter Koprivnica (Croatia). ARCTUR, a key technological partner with expertise in the digitalization of cultural heritage, will support the digitalization of talents and cultural assets, ensuring that rural knowledge and creativity are preserved and enhanced through innovative tools. Associated partners include the City of Koprivnica (Croatia), Mancomunidad de La Canal de Navarrés (Spain), and the Municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz (Portugal).

THRIVE seeks to transform rural areas into vibrant, sustainable spaces for cultural and creative growth, enabling them to thrive in the long term.

ARCTUR

(Partner) Nova Gorica

All projects of Slovenian producer

Foreign producers in the supported project

Provincia di Bergamo (leader)

Italy (EU)
Universitat de València (partner)

Spain (EU)
Enter Koprivnica d.o.o. (partner)

Croatia (EU)
Município do Fundão (partner)

Portugal (EU)
Grad Koprivnica (partner)

Croatia (EU)
Mancomunidad De La Canal de Navarrés (partner)

Spain (EU)
Municipal de Reguengos de Monsaraz (partner)

Portugal (EU)

Funded projects

Transition to 8: European societies in flux

ENACT – Easy-to-understand News for Collaborative Transformation

THRIVE – Talent Harvest: Rural Intangible Heritage and Value Empowerment

Land of Lace

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ArtElevate – Fostering Inclusive Cultural Expression in Europe

CARE – Culture for Mental Health

Glassmaking Between Tradition and Innovation

WONDERCUT – Collaboratively Exploring the Public Value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Next Level Cultural Experiences

Heroes Unleashed: Implementing a Sensory Reading Program in European Public Libraries

DATAS – The Data and the Sovereign

TALKING HEADS – Conversation with the art of the past

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G-BOOK 3

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Transport: Sustainable puppet co-creations for European young audiences

Danube Dance Alliance for Development of Contemporary Dance Scene in the Danube Region

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Beletrina Digital

WOMEN interACT – participatory theatre against the double exclusion of women

TECH(ing) TALES WITH A TWIST for the children of the present

DoSEL – Drama of Smaller European Languages

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Operation Nova

Kino x Games

FASIH - Future Art and Science Industrial Heritage

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Moving Balkans

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Third Stage

VERSOPOLIS – WHERE POETRY LIVES

December: Uncomfortable Beings, Azra, Best Imaginary Friends Forever

LINA - Learn, Interact, and Network in Architecture

reCITYing – Reactivating Unused Urban Spaces Through Architecture and Arts 2024–2028

Art Nouveau: a new EUtopia

Creative Industries Development Centre (KUL)

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Studiotopia: Enter the Symbiocene with Arts and Science (Studiotopia 2)

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TestArt

GREENSTAGE

Connecting Emerging Literary Artists (CELA)

Transmedia stories of insularity (TRAST)

Female Digital Creativity (FLUX)

Planet Hope (New European Fiction) (PH)

More than a Book (MTaS)

Our Little Library: Through literary bridges to reading adventures (OLLLB)

Connected with Books (CWB)

Exploring Expanded Publishing: EX-Pub

Thinking Publishing (ThinkPub)

Novel Europe (NovelEU)

REVIVE

Temporama: Mini Slate 2023

Studi Virc: Mini Slate 2023

The 10th and 11th edition of FeKK - Ljubljana Short Film Festival

The 20th and 21st Kino Otok - Isola Cinema International Film Festival

20. and 21. ANIMATEKA International animated film festival

Film in Hospital 2.0

EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal 2024-2026

Cinema without barriers (CWB)

Literary Agent Platform: Capacity building (LAP CB)

Tramal Films Mini Slate 22 (TFMini22)

Vertigo Slate 2022: Chestnuts, Memory of Autumn Mists, OHO, Splashing around

Staragara slate 22

Our Little Library: Literary exchanges (OLL LE)

Testing Ground (TestG)

Better Live

Variola - Dark Spring TV series

SEMA

Paradiso

Leave the door open

The Big Green