Filling the Hive: A Reflective Toolkit for Community-led Rural Development

Designing socio-technical systems for rural areas requires empowering local actors to actively engage in a creative process that thoroughly considers the unique characteristics of these territories. Methods intended for urban contexts often fail to account for rural communities’ specific values, cultures, and needs. Furthermore, the focus is usually on the design of the digital part of the innovation, its requirements, and technological constraints, leaving out other essential enablers. To address this, we present a toolkit designed to boost reflection on the key ‘'ingredients'’ — social, economic, technological, political, and infrastructural — essential for addressing rural challenges through socio- technical interventions. The toolkit offers tangible, user- friendly resources that encourage dialogue, self-reflection, and the creative envisioning of rural transformations. It includes inspirational cards as well as reflection questions to support communities in evaluating their needs, resources, and aspirations, fostering self-awareness, learning, and action.