Workshop on entrepreneurship in rural areas with population decline

Entrepreneurship is an important component of place reinvention and economic diversification strategies designed to stabilise or revert population trends in rural areas experiencing population decline. A twofold objective is pursued: promoting individual entrepreneurial initiatives, and maximising their chances of having a lasting positive effect on local economic prosperity.

Multiple parallel challenges often need to be addressed, e.g. limited local resources, a lack of entrepreneurial traditions, small labour markets and long distances to higher education and professional training institutions. At the same time, these areas often have unique assets such as natural resources, high quality living environments and tightly knit local communities.

This will be a truly interactive workshop. Participants will be invited to jointly reflect on the design on effective methods to promote entrepreneurship in rural areas. We will challenge them to specify their strategic medium-term objectives, and make proposals on how the path to get there. These exchanges will be inspired by a series a keynote speeches and presentations of good practices.

The workshop will be divided in four sessions:

1. Presentation on key policy developments at EU and national levels.
2. A focus on challenges and opportunities for youth entrepreneurship. How can policies help youth see opportunities in areas where others only see obstacles? How does one capitalise on young people’s energy and commitment to create lasting change?
3. A deep dive into gender dimensions of rural entrepreneurship. Do rural areas make full use of the entrepreneurial potential of women? What obstacles still persist? How can a gender perspective on entrepreneurship make a difference?
4. Exploring digital opportunities for rural entrepreneurship. What is needed to capitalise on them? Could digital tools help rural entrepreneurs recruit the talents they need to transform individual initiative into robust businesses?