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Virtual Café | The Right to Stay, The Right to Move: Can Remote Work Revitalise Europe’s Shrinking Countryside?

📅 Tuesday 17 November 2026 | 10:30–12:00 CET | Online, Microsoft Teams

As many employers scale back telework, can remote work still bring new life to Europe’s rural regions?

As part of the Close to you programme of the European Week of Regions and Cities, WinWin4WorkLife invites you to an interactive Virtual Café exploring the opportunities and challenges of remote work for rural communities.

The session will begin with new European survey evidence from WinWin4WorkLife on teleworkers’ relocation intentions, including moves to rural areas and return migration. Experts and participants will then explore what remote work can—and cannot—do for shrinking regions.

Discussion themes

  • Potential and barriers: Can remote work help people stay in or return to rural areas, and for whom can it make a difference?
  • Conditions and investments: What makes rural areas attractive places to live and work? From digital connectivity and co-working spaces to transport, housing and essential services, what is needed and who should finance it?
  • Risks and policies: How can rural revitalisation benefit existing communities while avoiding housing pressures and new divides between local residents and newcomers?

Invited experts

  • Lisanna Elm – Kupland, a rural co-working network, Estonia.
  • Radim Sršeň – Policy adviser on the Right to Stay, European Committee of the Regions.
  • Hubert Strauss – Senior Economist, Regional Development Division, European Investment Bank.
  • Eva Kocanová – Take naše, a civic association focused on regional development, Slovakia.
  • Michal Hrnčiar – Trexima, labour market research and consultancy, Slovakia.
  • Nino Javakhishvili-Larsen – Aalborg University, Denmark.

Join us to exchange ideas on remote work, rural development and the Right to Stay. Participants will be invited to share their experiences, questions and perspectives throughout the discussion.

👉 Register here – participation is free