Description
Penela is one of the municipalities selected within the Smart Rural 21 initiative in Portugal, which has adopted an integrated strategy to revitalise rural areas across multiple dimensions. The “Smart Village Strategy of Penela / Ferraria de São João” includes actions to improve digital connectivity, strengthen local governance, promote social innovation, and stimulate the local economy. The plan involves collaboration with residents to identify needs, upgrade basic infrastructure (internet, digital services), and use citizen science to monitor natural resources. Penela has also developed “quadruple helix” partnerships (citizens, administration, businesses, and academia) to foster rural entrepreneurship, digital services, and local participation.
Innovation
The main innovation lies in the comprehensive strategic approach: not only digitalisation, but combined governance, participation, and rural economy. Penela uses participatory mechanisms to co-design measures, integrating local actors and relying on the quadruple helix model. It also prioritises enhancing digital skills in the rural population, using technological tools such as sensors or participatory platforms for environmental monitoring, and linking public services with local connectivity. In this way, digital infrastructure becomes a foundation for social innovation, entrepreneurship, and strengthening local cohesion.
Why it is inspiring
Penela represents a real and documented example (with a formal strategy) of how a rural municipality can structure its transformation towards a smarter, more participatory model. It is not a small pilot case but has developed a roadmap integrating multiple dimensions of rural development. While not all results are publicly measured, its value lies in its capacity to coordinate community, institutional, and technological actors to create a replicable action plan. For VILLAHUB, Penela demonstrates how to design a digital agora within a broader strategy of governance, territorial inclusion, and rural entrepreneurship, adapting its principles to the local context.
Responsible entity: Municipality of Penela / local authorities in collaboration with local stakeholders / Smart Rural 21 initiatives
Location: Penela, Portugal
