Road Safety and resilience of rural areas

AUPEX is a non-profit organisation founded in 1992, representing 220 rural municipalities in Extremadura (Spain) and operating as a network for education, culture, and digital transformation in rural areas. Its key areas of work include culture, education, environmental awareness, civic participation, and digital and social inclusion. AUPEX’s mission is to promote equal opportunities and empower citizens towards sustainable and inclusive development. With 290 staff members, over 100,000 participants per year, and more than 30 years of training experience across all age groups, AUPEX has strong capacity to contribute to European projects targeting rural communities.

AUPEX could mobilise its network of municipalities and local actors to support pilots on secondary and lower-class rural roads, engaging citizens, vulnerable road users, and community organisations. It could contribute SSH expertise to study road user behaviour, risk perception, and mobility needs, design awareness and incentive-based measures, and validate prevention and resilience strategies in real-life contexts, including responses to extreme weather events. Additionally, AUPEX can translate technical outputs into accessible training, guidelines, and capacity-building actions for local and regional authorities, supporting effective implementation and long-term uptake in rural areas.