The degree of digitization is steadily increasing in our society. European countries have multiple mandatory digital solutions regarding public services. As existing services, such as banking and shopping, move increasingly online, the likelihood of excluding certain demographic groups, such as the elderly and those living in rural areas, increases exponentially. Populations in rural and remote areas have less access to services and activities and their situation may aggravate further when combined with poorer socio-economic conditions. This puts rural populations at a disadvantage compared to urban ones and can be particularly problematic for older people who may face a greater risk of social isolation, reduced mobility, lack of support and health care deficits as a result of the place in which they live. (UNECE Policy Brief on Ageing No. 18, March 2017) Thus, rural areas require alternative solutions to be able to equally benefit from the remote public services, as well as a need to develop pedagogical strategies to teach digital literacy skills to older adults, particularly those living in rural and remote areas. Digital competence is one of the eight key competences and refers to the confident and critical usage of the full range of digital technologies for information, communication and basic problem-solving in all aspects of life. This may sound simple to many of us but, according to the Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2015, 40% of the EU population has an insufficient level of digital competence, including 22% who do not use the Internet. In rural areas, digital skills and competences of citizens are a significant aspect for a community. The demographic characteristics of a region influence the distribution of digital skills within a region, as the different age groups have different access and possibilities to gain digital literacy.The project ‘Digital Comminities’ aims to ensure that local communities and rural areas equally get the chance to develop digital skills, try new tools and technologies as well as build communities around this. It will apply an inclusive approach to include the local population of rural areas, not only in training activities but also in developing the activities to be offered. The project addresses senior citizens in rural areas and members of local rural communities - community volunteers, adult (volunteer) trainers and tutors, social and community development workers, community activists, by following actions:- Development of tailored digital skills of seniors in community, and making them able to effectively access and use different public services, to identify and take advantage of the internet services, and thus to better adapt to digital-oriented changing world and to feel confident using online tools to manage and improve their health and life quality.- Development of virtual assistance tool for digital inclusion of seniors based on older people’s real-life scenarios for the need of services and where and how they can be accessed online. - Development of trainers’ skills in local community members to provide digital competence trainings and support to the elderly people in their communities.The project creates easily adaptable and transferable outputs - research study on online public services available in partner countries and the skills to access them, virtual assistance tools for digital inclusion of seniors, and handbook for community digital trainers with high potential of transferability to other countries and environments.The consortium consist of 6 partner organisations from Iceland, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Sweden and Spain, highly motivated in designing, testing and sustaining the project outputs, with complementary expertise and highly experienced in the project topics.A total of 75 targeted seniors/community members will benefit of the pilot activities; 32 community members will be identified and trained; 100 target groups representatives and stakeholders will be involved in research; 12 adult educators will be directly involved in the validation process of outcomes. Project results will directly reach at least 600 persons (citizens, adult educators, stakeholders) via project activities, multiplier events, creating a strong base for long term exploitation.The biggest impact is expected to be the strengthened networking and cohesion within the community. Networking, cooperation and linking people together in rural communities provide people with a sense of community spirit and local involvement, which in-turn enhances the longer-term prospects for rural areas to survive in times of economic austerity or population decline. Beside, the practical orientation of the methods and tools, the content uploaded within the website and available as Open Educational Resource, as well as the high flexibility and easy applicability of the approach, gives opportunity for use in different contexts and guarantees a long-lasting multiplication effect.