RUBIZMO: Cultivating Rural Business Success

85% of Europe’s land is covered by rural areas which are inhabited by 137 million people (2018 Eurostat report).  Nevertheless, a 2019 Eurostat report found that 22% of Europe´s rural population is at risk of poverty and social exclusion. RUBIZMO and LIVERUR – two Horizon 2020 projects identified innovative ideas for rural jobs and growth! At their Final Event on the 7th of October, their results and tools will be presented to policymakers, advisors, and rural entrepreneurs, as well as to the interested public audience. The event presents the opportunity to discuss and plan for the large-scale replication of innovative business models supporting sustainable growth and job creation in European rural areas.

Hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Peter Schmidt, the President of the NAT Section will open the event. During the panel discussion, “Policy in Practice – How to support Europe´s rural entrepreneurs” founders of agricultural start-ups like Christine Hebert from Blue Lobster and Oana Maria Iliescu from Taina Vie will give insights into their secrets of success. Next to those experts in the field, Piroska Kálay (EESC), David Lamb (ENRD), and Emilija Stojmenova Duh (University of Ljubjana) will share their knowledge on rural development.

In the first workshop round the participants will be able to learn more about the different tools the projects developed like the Virtual Library featuring 38 business cases, the Transformation Support Tool, and the RAIN concept. In a second workshop round, it´s all about Cross-Regional Learning. Here best practices of how each region/partner facilitated rural innovation will be promoted and practical examples identified throughout the two projects will be featured.

Final Event

10:00- 10:10: WELCOME Address – Peter Schmidt, President of the NAT Section of the European Economic and Social Committee

10:10- 10:25: INTRODUCTION Rural business in the EU Green deal and Rural Vision – Alexia Rouby, Research and Innovation Unit, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission

10:25- 10:40: PROJECT PRESENTATION: RUBIZMO & LIVERUR Collaboration and Innovation – Unlocking rural potential in Europe – Justin Casimir, RUBIZMO project coordinator, and David Heiser, LIVERUR project coordinator

10:40- 11:40: PANEL DISCUSSION Policy in Practice – How to support Europe´s rural entrepreneurs Moderated by Justin Casimir, RISE & RUBIZMO project coordinator

Piroska Kálay, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee

David Lamb, Team Leader, European Network for Rural Development – ENRD

Christine Hebert, Founder of Blue Lobster

Oana Maria Iliescu, Founder of Taina Vie

Emilija Stojmenova Duh, University of Ljubjana, LIVERUR

11:40– 12:00: BREAK

12:00– 13:00: WORKSHOP 1 in Break Out Rooms

• Virtual Library, RUBIZMO
• Transformation Support Tool, RUBIZMO
• Cooperation Toolkit, RUBIZMO
• Academy Tool, RUBIZMO
• RAIN: Concept, Platform and Tools, LIVERUR

Moderated by: David Heiser, LIVERUR project coordinator
Alexandra Chimona, Senior Project Manager, iED – Institute of Entrepreneurship Development

Klaus Wagner, Head of Department Mountain Areas Research and Regional Development, BAB – Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research

13:00-13:45: BREAK

13:45-14:45: WORKSHOP 2 Cross-Regional Learning: Best practices of how each region/partner facilitated rural innovation etc.

Session divided according to three regions and moderated by: Thomas Norrby, Collaborative Manager for the Area of Rural Development at the Department of Urban and Rural Development, SLU – Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, RUBIZMO