Get inspired by social entrepreneurship practices in European rural areas

On 11 May 2023, the Rural Pact Support Office hosted its first Good Practice webinar entitled “Fostering social entrepreneurship in rural areas through local action”. We are excited to announce that all the presentations and video recordings from this event have been uploaded to the event page.

During the webinar, participants had the opportunity to explore a diverse range of initiatives that have made a positive impact in rural areas through social entrepreneurship. The presentations showcased real-life examples of organisations creating businesses addressing social challenges, and fostering economic growth in rural communities such as:

• education, entrepreneurship and culture to make digital opportunities tangible for rural areas (DE),
• a sustainable dairy plant purchasing local products and creating jobs for local women (HR),
• developing a tourism cluster with a long-term vision of inclusive employment and community cooperation (PL).

Discussion in small groups on selecting the right social entrepreneurship model, involving local actors and ensuring long-term sustainability brought up a number of success factors, challenges and recommendations, for example:

• building social capital is a process, it needs a first tangible action to mobilise the community,
• support structures and local intermediaries play an important role,
• appropriate legal frameworks for social economy are needed and there is scope of exchange of experience of different national models,
• bottom-up funding mechanisms (including crowdfunding) and integration of various funding sources are needed,
• it is important to educate people about the role of social entrepreneurship, but demonstrating and measuring its impacts can be a challenge.

To access the presentations and video recordings from the Good Practice webinar, please visit the event page.