On 20 June 2025, the Head of the Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network's EU representative office participated in the Harnessing Talent Platform (HTP) Working Groups online meeting, organized by the European Commission, as a panellist. In the session dedicated to access to essential services and quality of life, she presented the work carried out in the context of the EU-funded AHEAD project, in which our organisation took part in representing Italy. She also described what policies and tools could be the most effective in addressing the challenges of medical deserts, as identified by the AHEAD project's results.

The panel also saw the participation of representatives from the European Commission's DG SANTE and DG AGRI, representatives from the Rural Pact Support Office and ESPON EGTC, and members of the Health Working Group.

The aim of the meeting was to gather insights from EU Commission DGs, academic experts and external stakeholders in order to align the final outputs of the HTP Working Groups with the evolving policy landscape.

The Harnessing Talent Platform (HTP) was created as an outcome of the Communication on Harnessing Talent in Europe's regions. It is part of the “Talent Booster Mechanism”, the eight-pillars European Commission’s policy response to harness talent in EU’s regions including through direct technical assistance and EU support on the ground, access to knowledge and resources, as well as support to the exchange of practices and experiences via four working groups.

To read the programme of the event, click here.

To know more about the Harnessing Talent Platform, click here.