Co-developed by the IN SITU teams at the University of Hildesheim (SUH) and the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), this handbook sets out a new conceptual framework for policy development to support CCIs in non-urban areas. It gives local policy- and decision-makers a clearer basis for deciding where to intervene first, how to sustain initiatives beyond pilot cycles, and how to structure collaboration so that cultural work is recognised as development work, not reduced to short-term visibility or tourism-only logic. This handbook presents a joint set of innovation and cultural policy proposals on the local/national level and on the EU level, as well as a five-step plan that gives guidance for implementation.