Aldea 0: Innovation for rural regeneration

Aldea 0 arises in 2022 as an initiative of public-private collaboration between the Government of the Principality of Asturias, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge and CTIC Technology Center, which has in Valle de Peón (Villaviciosa) a headquarters specialized in technologies for rural development (CTIC RuralTech).

With the main objective of tackling the fight against rural abandonment and depopulation of villages, Aldea 0 promotes the search for a new socioeconomic viability for the rural world through:

• the recoveryof local economic activity;
• the improvement of the quality of life in the rural environment;
• the recovery of knowledges essential for the management of the territory;
• the integration of new technologiesinto the village and
• the development of new economic, social and environmental functions for the rural environment.

Aldea 0 actions

Aldea 0 actions are based on five pillars:

• Local Agroecological System: Design, feasibility and organization for the implementation of community herds as integral managers of the territory: incorporation of geolocation collars and virtual fencing, data models and digital twin in Valle de Lago (Somiedo). Development of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) with blockchain for Asturias Cider.
• Local Energy System: Launch of a pilot rural energy community, in CTIC RuralTech (Peón) with collective consumption managed through blockchain, which open new opportunities in renewable energies, efficiency and digitization of the energy sector and incorporating Artificial Intelligence for the prediction of both energy generation and consumption.
• Local Business System: Open innovation space for SMEs, startups and corporations that want to pilot and validate technological and social solutions applicable to the rural environment.
• Intergenerational Community: Endowment and implementation of a meeting space that promotes intergenerational learning, experimentation and recovery of local culture in CTIC RuralTech (Peón).
• Transmission of rural culture: Actions of revaluation of local culture, incorporating digital platforms for each of the localities in which this action has been carried out and in which it is sought to collect and make visible the material and immaterial heritage as well as local knowledge of the villages.
• Open Innovation: In the Valley of Peón, Candanal and Arroes the development of a Territorial Intelligence System is carried out under the conceptual umbrella of smart villages and under the efficient use of ICT as a tool for the development of rural communities, from the perspective of social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability.