YOUTH Re-Working Rural

The project involves rural areas characterized by different pre-assessed economic vocations but that are experiencing common territorial challenges such as an economic reconversion from traditional sectors (i.e. agriculture and manufacturing) to services sector and knowledge based activities, low population density, decrease of inhabitants due to migration towards big cities inside and outside the countries, brain drain of young people, high youth unemployment rates. The economic reconversion is furthermore causing the presence of empty, abandoned buildings previously used for economic activities, that need to be reconverted and exploited economically to contribute to local development and youth employment.

Considering that young people with sense of initiative cannot find easily in rural areas appropriate spaces and professional networks to improve their competences and self-employment potentialities, the project’s main objective is to promote co-working spaces as a concept to reconvert abandoned spaces and to encourage entrepreneurship culture among young people as a new form of employee-driven innovation (EDI).

The project directly involves in training activities young people, aged between 25 and 29 years, interested in the topics covered by the project (co-working, spaces reconversion and youth entrepreneurship and business networking) and in personal development, as well as local development stakeholders (such as spaces owners, public administrators, investors and trainers) through the validation of intellectual outputs.

Project foresees the production, use, validation and promotion of 6 intellectual outputs:

state of the art and map of opportunities,
EQF of the co-working start-upper,
training programme,
e-book for the start-up and management of co-working spaces,
virtual community for local development through co-working ,
best practices and open challenges booklet “Fostering youth entrepreneurship and local development in rural areas through co-working and spaces reconversion”.

All intellectual outputs are available to target groups, associate partners and external stakeholders.

The results:

– youth living in rural areas with newly acquired or reinforced key competences – including basic, transversal and soft skills, entrepreneurial and digital skills – of the co-working start upper;

– unemployed youth with increased opportunities of self-employment and employability thanks to the relevant skills gained for exploiting potentialities of territories through the reconversion and management of spaces,

– youth with reinforced open up mindset for cross- sectorial cooperation allowing greater synergies with other professionals/workers/stratuppers and across different business and local development actors.

The partnership comprises 7 organisations from Norway, Slovenia, Greece, Latvia, Spain and Italy.

Do you want to know more about the project? Contact us! training@ciape.it