Almost one-third of the population in Europe and Central Asia live in rural areas and face multiple challenges, in view of the predominance of small family farms in many countries of the region. There are several concurrent and interconnected development constraints, including poverty, food insecurity, inequality, unemployment, and risk of natural disasters. A key goal is to work with communities to maintain sustainable livelihoods in rural areas and improve quality of life by enhancing infrastructure and services. In this paper, a review of the needs, constraints and opportunities for family farms and of the specific challenges faced by rural youth in the region illustrates the need to foster generational sustainability in family farming. Strategies and policies that can potentially foster rural revitalization in order to strengthen the role of family farmers and rural youth in economic, social and environmental development, as well as in the transformational change process, are then described.