One of the most distinctive achievements of MARGISTAR was its ability to move beyond academic exchange and bring knowledge, methods and skills directly into marginalised rural and mountainous communities. Through the Vision and Pathway Workshops organised in Croatia, Ireland, Finland and Bulgaria (...), researchers entered communities that are often geographically peripheral to national centres and, at the same time, peripheral to many of the political and development processes that shape their futures. In some cases, this included communities with very specific cultural and territorial identities, such as Sámi communities in Finland.

This was important because MARGISTAR did not approach these communities merely as objects of research. Instead, local stakeholders and other participants were invited to become active contributors to thinking about and shaping possible futures. This approach reflected the broader ambition of the Action to foster co-creation between scientists, stakeholders and policymakers and to develop bottom-up visions and pathways for marginalised mountainous areas.

The Vision Workshops created a space in which participants could first step outside the constraints of everyday problems and imagine what their village, small town or surrounding rural area could become over the next ten or more years. For some participants, this was the first structured opportunity to articulate a desirable future for their own community and to discuss that future collectively.

The subsequent Pathway Workshops moved this process further. Participants were able to deepen these visions through more sector-specific reflection, including the economy, tourism, environmental protection, social infrastructure and other locally relevant fields. The process revealed both enthusiasm and concern. Some participants became more aware of the assets and opportunities already present in their communities, while others recognised that important development opportunities had been missed or that structural barriers remained considerable.

The value of these workshops therefore extended beyond their immediate outputs. They demonstrated that imagining and planning the future can itself be a shared social practice. The future of a rural community should not belong exclusively to political decision-makers or be confined to electoral cycles. MARGISTAR offered a practical demonstration of the difference between politics and policy-making: between short-term political priorities and the longer-term, participatory process of identifying problems, mobilising knowledge, considering alternatives and agreeing on pathways for collective action.

Perhaps the most valuable legacy of the Action is precisely this transfer of knowledge and capacity. MARGISTAR did not only produce knowledge about marginalised communities. It also left knowledge, methods and skills within those communities, strengthening their capacity to participate in shaping their own futures.