Brussels, 09/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 9 January, the European Commission presented the 24 projects which have made it to the finals of the RegioStars Awards 2012 competition, which rewards best practice in rural development by highlighting innovative and original projects funded by the cohesion policy of the European Union. These projects are divided into five categories: Smart growth - service innovation (7), Sustainable growth - eco-system services (5), Inclusive growth - addressing demographic change and active ageing (4), Citystar - integrated development of deprived urban areas (4), and Information and communication - presenting project data (4). The winners in each category will be announced on 16 January at an event at the European Commission. No fewer than 107 projects were put forward for the 2012 vintage. The competition has been run since 2008.
In parallel, applications for the RegioStars Award 2013 are now open and projects wishing to apply must do so by 20 April of this year. (MD/transl.fl)