European rural and peri-urban areas are facing diverse development challenges and opportunities related to their functional transition. One of the ways to learn about and support the transition process is to directly engage and empower rural actors enabling a mutual information collection and flow. The evidence presented in this session derives from research carried out in different pilot regions across Europe as a majort component of the HORIZON EUROPE Rural Sustainability Transitions through Integration of Knowledge for improved policy processes RUSTIK project. Based on a Living Lab approach, data and information needs are locally (or regionally) defined, data collection methods selected, and information is collected to develop policy initiatives and solutions that can be transferable, replicable, serve as best practices for other European contexts and capacities of local actors. The papers presented in the session will draw from the experience of the living labs focusing both on individual experience of plot regions, and confrontation of opportunities and challenges across different cases.