This report by ROBUST’s Cultural Connections Community of Practice (CoP) presents three lessons on how culture can create and strengthen connections between rural and urban areas. While it can be challenging to practically define culture in regional planning and policy, this broadness offers a wide range of opportunities to incorporate culture into inclusive and sustainable development.

This report defines what cultural connections are and why they matter, and offers some practice-based approaches to how culture can improve rural-urban synergies. Its findings are grounded in real practice and action research from ROBUST’s Cultural Connections CoP, a network of four European regions: Tukums (Latvia), Metropolitan Area of Styria (Austria), Lucca (Italy) and Mid Wales (UK).