Participatory funding for activities that keep the residents happy and proud to be residents: A local "fireplace" fund for the region. This would be a small earmarked pot of money for community-led social initiatives, where residents collectively decide how funds are used to strengthen local life and belonging.

Local public spaces would be partners in this policy and citizens would be encouraged to use these venues for the initiatives.

Social initiatives examples:

• Crafting festival (bringing together young people and elderly to share hobbies, swap yarn, patterns and get access to sewing machines) - the funds would pay for promotion, hobby materials and refreshments.
• Alternative sports league (encouraging participation in non-mainstream, fresh and innovative sport by creating a team and tournament around a lesser known sport, like quidditch, disc golf, or soap-box racing) - the funds would pay for a logo, merchandise and equipment.

Culture as attraction: a pop concert week (with either local musicians or cover bands of popular bands) and other cultural activities that support tourism while also signalling that the region is a lively, welcoming place for young people and newcomers.

This would help attract new people and remind existing rural population that culture is not outside of their local reach.

Two-way integration and mentoring. Organise courses and mentoring groups for both migrants and locals, built around shared hobbies and interests, like playing sports, book club, gardening club. The aim: language learning, cultural exchange, and social connections that recognise both migrants' and locals' personal interests as human beings and not just members of the workforce.

Austria's agricultural and forestry VET schools are basically regional skills hubs for rural areas. They train young people to run farms, forestry businesses and other rural enterprises professionally. This is an initiative that keeps a rural region skilled, adaptable and economically safe.

There are around 80 schools, adapted to different regional needs. Students can specialise in areas like agriculture, forestry, wine, horticulture, tourism or the horse industry. The education combines hands-on skills with business and general knowledge. Graduates can move straight into work or continue to higher qualifications. Schools can adjust their focus depending on what the regional economy needs.

They also offer second-chance routes for people who trained in something else first. Beyond teaching, they act as local competence centres for farmers and rural residents.

Promote isolation as a positive. Especially to urban residents who are feeling crowded out and overstimulated in the cities. Lean into the fact that your rural region has the space to breathe fresh air and experience nature every day and not just as an excursion.

Do this by promoting the holiday cabins usually targeted at tourists or re-purposing unsold houses into trial housing, to potential future residents. An initiative for 2-3 month stays over the summer for city families, gives them longer than a holiday to seriously consider moving. Offer either a lottery selection or highly discounted rate for young families for these try-out-a-less-crowded-life cabins.

Insert the idea of "collective ownership" into rural regions, by inviting local residents to invest in new tourism initiatives - especially converting old industrial factories into museums or activity centers for kids. This takes away the classic victim narrative of rural decline and instead empowers the locals to imagine a new identity together.

These initiatives should be organised like "andelsforeninger" in Denmark, where half the stock is owned by either a private investor or the municipal and the rest can be bought only by the local residents.

Convert an old industrial building like a factory into a community hub with multi-purpose rooms that can host concerts, exhibitions, a library, local museum and/or a co-working space for digital nomads or entrepreneurs.

Maltfabrikken in Ebeltoft municipality is an example of how exactly this initiative can rebrand an otherwise dying town, into a dynamic and innovative home for young families and internationals.