KERÄ – For Sustainable Rural Areas and a Just Transition 2024–2027 focuses on current sustainability issues at the national, regional, and local levels, highlighting all aspects of sustainability: ecological, social, cultural, and economic.

The network strengthens the operational model of Sustainability Week as a platform for sustainability dialogues in rural areas. It promotes the ability of municipalities and organizations to include various sub-areas of sustainable development as part of their own activities with the help of information and tools. KERÄ increases diverse dialogue nationally, regionally, and locally. The network operates bilingually (Finnish/Swedish).

The network’s goals are to:
1. Expand Sustainability Week into a nationwide operational model for sustainability work;
2. Develop mechanisms to increase regional equality in sustainability issues;
3. Promote the development of indicators for monitoring place-based sustainability solutions and local initiatives;
4. Integrate sustainability work into the regular activities of organizations and municipalities;
5. Promote justice and participation in issues related to land use, energy transition, and digital transition;
6. Collect and disseminate information on rural sustainability issues at the regional and national levels.

The network project is carried out in collaboration with the The Association of Rural Advisory centres (SLF), the Centre for Lifelong Learning at Åbo Akademi University, and the Finnish Association for Rural Culture and Education (Maaseudun Sivistysliitto).