Rural development for employment Erasmus Project

Project Title

Rural development for employment

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Rural development and urbanisation; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage

Project Summary

Using like framework the European Territorial Agenda 2020, Europe faces increasing and territorially differentiated demographic challenges. Ageing and depopulation will bring about changes in many regions, including rural and peripheral regions and lead to severe impacts for social and territorial cohesion, public service provision, labour market and housing. Migration mainly from less developed non‐EU countries constitute specific challenges and opportunities and also the past economic crisis, could provide an opportunity for a transition towards more sustainable and resource efficient economic structures if appropriate actions are taken.

CONTEXT
The project starts from an analysis carried out by the partnership on the effects of rural depopulation and new opportunities to address the problem. In fact, the partners has started from the needs of the communities to link together realities experiencing similar issues to cooperate and support each other.
The project partners will look at the following main issues:
– How the phenomenon of depopulation in the EU is taking place, which are the historical and contemporary causes and main factors involved.
– How to promote economic and social development in rural depopulated areas starting from best practices and responses in different EU countries as: sustainable tourism, start up business management, community building and coproduction through the revaluation of the local heritage, including the role of international migration.

AIM
The project aims to explore possibilities of rural development to tackle unemployement and depopulation. These possibilities may include sustainable tourism, practices of coproduction and sustainable start up among the others.
The best practices will be collected in a toolkit to create a tool for guidance for unemployed adults, entrepreneurs and workers employed in rural areas willing to start sustainable development activities.

OBJECTIVES
– To share best practices between organizations in Europe dealing with depopulation and rural development.
– To point out the main issues and topics arising from contexts of depopulation and their communities .
– To develop guidelines for local and educational authorities for the possible measures to prevent the phenomenon and its dynamics thanks to template of activities included in the final toolkit;
– To train key figures (unemployed adults, workers and members of rural depopulated communities (or at risk of depopulation), operators and entrepreneurs working already in those contexts, policy makers in the field and members of local institutions, trainers and mentors in vocational guidance and employability) and stimulate them to develop and adopt new techniques concerning rural development.
– To promote multidisciplinary approaches in dealing with challenges present in these settings and empowering participants to work on their competencies and tools for social (and economic) change.
– To point out good and bad practices in Europe.
– To build bridges between companies, institutions and authorities disseminating the toolkit developed.
– to promote conceptual tools for policy makers and entrepreneurship on start up business and actions for socioeconomic re-qualification activities.
– To raise awareness on the key role of cultural heritage in defining a European identity;
– To promote the importance of EU values, democracy and citizenship

PARTNERSHIP
The consortium comprises 6 partners from 6 different countries ( Romania, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Spain) taking into account their previous experience in the thematic areas of the project, international project management experience, successful co-operation in previous projects, technical skills and commitment and ability to disseminate and exploit project results.

ACTIVITIES
– Creation of the web site and social media profile of the project
– Creation of a toolkit for organizations dealing with rural depopulated communities (or at risk of depopulation), operators and entrepreneurs working in those contexts, policy makers in the field and members of local institutions, trainers and mentors
– International training activity in Calabria, Italy, to test the toolkit and evaluate its potential, putting also in practice some activities, share best practices and perform a visit to a local village involved in rural development and repopulating activities.
– Local and international dissemination activities of the toolkit to reach stakeholders in the field of depopulation and rural development.
– Review and publication of the toolkit based on the feedback received

RESULTS, IMPACT AND LONG TERM BENEFITS
To build up a network of organisations working with the target group for:
– sharing good practices on sustainable solutions for rural evelopment
– develop new pathways in order to find tools to face the s posed by depopulation
– train the target group on how to promote business in economically depressed areas
— Building a stronger European identity

Project Website

http://www.aepenafiel.pt/rde/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 75541,75 Eur

Project Coordinator

ALPHABET FORMATION & Country: BE

Project Partners

• Associação Empresarial de Penafiel
• Itaka training
• KOINONIKI ENSOMATOSI – ASTIKI MI KERDOSKOPIKI ETAIREIA
• Asociatia Monomyths
• Asociación Empresarial L’alqueria Projectes Educatius