Enhancing territorial resilience while reducing risks is of paramount importance for communities, especially for those in historic areas where vulnerability is a significant component of risk, and where cultural heritage serves as a catalyst for collective identity. However, policies and planning tools designed to protect historic areas from natural and anthropic risks remain fragmented. The aim of this paper is to provide evidence-based guidance to help policymakers build tailored roadmaps for reducing the seismic vulnerability of historic areas. This research focuses on the Adriatic–Ionian region, with six countries identified as case studies. The methodology is structured in three phases. First, good practices for addressing seismic vulnerability are identified and codified to improve existing knowledge. Second, a replicability and scalability assessment of the good practices is performed for each case study. Finally, roadmaps are developed as ready-to-use tools to support the implementation of measures to reduce seismic vulnerability. Although the results reveal considerable variability in the readiness levels of the six case studies to act for reducing seismic vulnerability, the overall methodology effectively supports policymakers in moving from good practice selection to tailored roadmaps for enhancing resilience.

Access to essential services is a key determinant of quality of life, social inclusion, and territorial cohesion in rural areas, where low population density and spatial dispersion often limit service provision. Ensuring equitable service accessibility represents an important component of sustainable rural development, as it contributes to the resilience and long-term viability of rural communities. Although access to services has gained increasing attention over recent decades, the conceptualization, measurement, and operationalization of accessibility in rural contexts remain fragmented across regions and disciplines. This paper presents a systematic review of the scientific literature on access to services in rural areas of Europe, aiming to synthesize existing knowledge, identify dominant methodological approaches, and highlight key research gaps. The review examines the types of services and transport modes considered to reach them, the indicators and metrics used to assess accessibility, and the spatial scales of analysis. The results reveal a strong focus on a limited range of services, a predominant reliance on car-based travel time measures, and substantial heterogeneity in data sources and analytical methods. The paper concludes by outlining a hierarchical framework for service accessibility to support future analysis and evidence-based policymaking aimed at promoting sustainable and inclusive development in rural Europe.