Stay rural and successful in the digital era

The decision to apply for this project was driven by the urgent need to address the significant challenges faced by young people, particularly those living in rural areas, across Europe. The last ...

The project activities collectively aimed to empower rural youth with the knowledge, skills, and motivation needed to engage in entrepreneurship and contribute to the sustainable development of rural areas. - The project provided rural youth with free access to educational resources, empowering them with the knowledge and skills needed to engage in entrepreneurship and adapt to the digital economy. - Creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem with active engagement of public and private stakeholders provided rural youth with the necessary support and resources to start and sustain their businesses. - VET providers benefited from OER for reaching new clients and participating in Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Panels (REEPs), enhancing their capacity to deliver relevant and up-to-date educational resources to rural youth. - Local authorities benefited from attracting young residents and promoting balanced and sustainable economic growth in rural areas, leading to improved community development and well-being. - Economic growth, population age balance, cultural and societal revival, sustainable development, and enhanced service availability resulting from entrepreneurship initiatives benefited the rural population in general, including

During the project it was implemented the following activities: - Project management - with main goal succesful implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the project. - Project result 1 Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem - The main idea was to actively involve key stakeholders of the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem into the design of project results. This was achieved by creating a mechanism through which stakeholders were able to access and guide the macro- and micro-structure of the OER (and other project results) in the making and to establish synergies between local governance, VET providers, and youth/entrepreneurial/professional associations that supported rural youth entrepreneurship and entry into the economic activity/labour market. - Project result 3 Digital tools for rural entrepreneurs - its focus was to provide knowledge and information about first entrepreneurial steps and business sustainability, including E.U goals and policies, mainly the Green Deal, which is the new economic model for Europe until 2050, cohesion, inclusion, and participation in democratic life policies. - Project result 5 Rural entrepreneurship web-platform - the platform hosted OER produced during the project (both for synchronous and asynchronous teaching), and a dialogue forum with space for every created REEP and a common dialogue space. - Project result 6 Digital Handbook for rural Start Up & MotiVIDEO - The expected impact was to play a key role for potential entrepreneurs and be a great instrument for people, institutions, and organizations that were teaching entrepreneurship or providing career guidance. - Training of trainers - with main goal to train trainers working with youth in rural areas - VET providers, youth workers, NGOs representatives, teachers etc. - Online youth training - with main goal to pilot the project result 3 among youth living in rural areas. - Dissemination activities -the main goal was to disseminate and popularize all project results to reach more representatives of the target group. Within Project result 1 Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem was implemented: - Engagment of stakeholders - identifiying and contacting representatives of target group in every partner country - The total number of stakeholders identified is 326. - Interaction with and amongst stakeholders: --- Organized LIVING LABS by all project partners to actively involve key stakeholders in the design of project results. --- It was organized 7 LIVING LABS - 2 in Bulgaria, 1 in Greece, 1 in North Macedonia, 1 in Spain, 1 in Portugal, 1 in Cyprus. --- Realizaing International online summit „Youth entrepreneurship - possibilities, problems and challenges“ with 30 participants from all partner countries. - Formation of Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Panels (REEP). --- These stakeholders (constituents of a REEP) came together under the DigiRUR project exhortation to facilitate, provide feedback, and contribute to the orientation, focusing, and fine-tuning of all project results. They were also able to further collaborate, outside the specified activities and time-frame of the project, in fostering conditions and creating a healthy ecosystem for local youth entrepreneurial growth. ---Signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) – 24 in total. The MoU was signed by local authorities, VET providers, NGOs, youth organizations, public institutions ---During the implementation of the DigiRUR project REEP and their members were the primarily facilitators and advisors of the project consortium. Within Project result 3 Development of Digital Tools for Rural Entrepreneurs was implemented: - Created digital modules focusing on key entrepreneurial steps and business sustainability, aligned with EU goals and policies - 5 in total. - Modules developed included topics such as web design, e-commerce, digital marketing, data analytics, and principles of marketing and management. - Open educational resources (OER) was created, using different formats: audio-visual, case studies, quizzes, tests. Training of Trainers: - This ToT activity had a dual purpose: to pilot the draft version of all OER produced and to prepare consortium members who would engage in Youth training activities, and VET educators for contacted stakeholders to understand the logic and approach envisioned by the OER producers. It was held online in order to facilitate participation from all stakeholders from all countries. The training was intensive with a duration of 2 days, and the language of the training was English. The total numebr of participants were 21. Online Youth Training: - This Youth training activity had a dual purpose: to pilot the first version of all OER produced and to produce tangible outcomes by providing actual services to the main project target group, the rural youth. The training had a character of mass synchronous teaching with a duration of 6 weeks on a 4-hour-per-week schedule (40 hours in total). The language of the training was English. The total numebr of participants were 17. - It was held addtional on-site training of youth in Spain during October and November 2023 with 67 participants. - All participants received YOUTHPASS certificate and DIGIRUR special certificate. Within Project result 5 "Development of Rural Entrepreneurship Web Platform" was implemented: - It was developped open-source platform and included educational materials, a practice digital guide with video tutorials of tips and tricks for youth entrepreneurship, and good practices. Asynchronous features were available for free to any interested party, while synchronous OER material (though publicly accessible and free) was organized in such a way as to facilitate its use by stakeholders and educators in general in their synchronous teaching through the web-conference platform of their choice. - A user-friendly environment established to facilitate dialogue among stakeholders, host REEPs, and enable information exchange. Within Project result 6 "Digital Handbook for Rural Start-Ups & MotiVIDEO" was implemented: - Created a practical guide containing brief information on setting up and managing a business in rural areas and containing information "How to start bussiness" in every partner country - practical advices. - Produced 15 MOTIVideos showcasing best practices, successful rural entrepreneurs to motivate young people to start businesses in rural areas and best and most interesting moments from the trainings and the other activities. These activities collectively aimed to foster a healthy ecosystem for youth rural entrepreneurship growth by engaging stakeholders (local authorities, VET institutions and youth or professional associations) into entrepreneurship promoting synergies (REEPs) and by providing a complete training package of theoretical and practical knowledge, necessary skills and motivation young people need to start a business in rural areas.

The concrete outputs and results of our project include: Living Labs for Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: Organized Living Labs in each partner's region to actively involve key stakeholders in the design of project results, gathering input and feedback from local stakeholders. Signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs): Facilitated the signing of MoUs between project partners and various stakeholders, including municipalities, VET providers, private companies, and NGOs, to signify commitment to collaboration and future cooperation in supporting rural entrepreneurship initiatives. Digital Modules: Developed 5 digital modules focusing on key entrepreneurial steps and business sustainability, covering topics such as web design, e-commerce, digital marketing, data analytics, and principles of marketing and management. Training of Trainers Materials: Produced materials for the training of trainers to prepare consortium members and VET educators to deliver effective training sessions using the developed Open Educational Resources (OER) after the end of the project too. Online Youth Training Initiatives: Initiated pilot educational resources online among the target group - young people living in rural areas, providing them with access to high-quality educational materials and support for developing entrepreneurial skills. Rural Entrepreneurship Web Platform: Created a user-friendly web platform providing free access to information and materials related to rural entrepreneurship, serving as a hub for stakeholder dialogue and hosting Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Panels (REEPs). Digital Handbook & MotiVIDEO: Produced a practical digital handbook containing brief information on setting up and managing a business in rural areas. Additionally, created MotiVIDEOs showcasing best practices and successful rural entrepreneurs to motivate young people to start businesses in rural areas.