Creative Newcomers & Rural Transformation A Cultural Impact Assessment Guideline for Local Governments

Urban-to-rural mobility among creative professionals is contributing to transformations in rural communities, cultural practices, and local environments. Yet the cultural impacts of these processes often remain difficult to identify and assess through conventional evaluation approaches focused on economic indicators and measurable outcomes. Developed through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions-funded HL-EXURB research project, this guideline introduces a place-based Cultural Impact Assessment Framework for understanding how creative newcomers shape rural contexts through their practices, relationships, and interactions with local communities. Rather than relying on predefined indicators or assumptions of positive or negative change, the framework examines cultural impacts across three interconnected areas: community-building, place-making, and eco-cultural resilience, with digital connectivity recognised as a cross-cutting dimension. Designed primarily for local governments, the guideline provides a practical approach to identifying cultural impacts, gathering context-sensitive evidence, and facilitating dialogue among local stakeholders. It supports the use of qualitative insights alongside quantitative evidence where appropriate, recognising cultural impact assessment as an ongoing and participatory process rather than a one-time measurement exercise.
By making cultural processes and everyday interactions more visible, the guideline aims to inform locally grounded policy-making and support more inclusive and sustainable approaches to rural development.