Women in Europe – New Yields of Employment in Rural Areas Erasmus Project

Project Title

Women in Europe – New Yields of Employment in Rural Areas

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 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Rural development and urbanisation; Inclusion – equity; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The crisis that Europe is facing has led to a sharp decline in economic activity and recession. The labour market is being severely hit and unemployment rates are increasing thus negatively affecting the EU’s potential growth. In this scenario, the aim is for Europe to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy.

EU rural development policy focuses on jobs, growth and sustainability as basic pillars. Rural areas shall fully exploit their potential, resources and human capital, and create high-quality and sustainable jobs. EU’s rural areas are diverse in terms of population, demography, economic and social structures, but most of them are highly suffering the negative impact of the crisis in terms of unemployment rate.

To the known problems suffered by the general population in EU’s rural areas:

* Ageing population.
* Mass exodus to the cities.
* Gaps in facilities.
* Reduction of rural employment and lack of entrepreneurs.
* Income p/c in rural areas is nearly half of urban income p/c.
* Skills and educational attainment is generally lower in rural areas.

We have to add specific problems facing by rural women:

* Invisibility of her work.
* Lack of infrastructure to balance their work and family life.
* Serious difficulties in accessing the labour market.

And relating self-employment, rural women could face to the following obstacles:

* Territorial and social isolation problems.
* Lack of confidence to raise their business ideas.
* Minor number of business information points for supporting and accompanying.
* Weaker marketing channels.
* Difficult access to ICTs.

So, general objective of WE-RUN project has been to offer new opportunities and innovative instruments to adult women living in rural areas for improving their qualifications and thus their levels of employability and integration into the labour market, mainly through entrepreneurship activities related to the New Yields of Employment (NYE) and emerging sectors.

Therefore, main direct beneficiaries of WE-RUN were women living in rural areas (especially lowly qualified adults). Furthermore important stakeholders for the development of the project have been: rural women associations, adult education and training organizations, local businesses/enterprises associations, local/regional authorities and citizens in general.

Main activities were:

* Study-analysis on the relation between rural women and NYE and emerging sectors
* Catalogue of innovative best practices on entrepreneurial rural women and NYE and emerging sectors
* Training for rural women in entrepreneurship on NYE and emerging sectors
* European Virtual Community of entrepreneurial rural women and NYE
* Piloting: Launch time
* One Multiplier event

WE-RUN, implemented through a partnership which includes 7 organisations from 6 countries, allowed reaching the following impacts:

* Increasing levels of employability of rural women through the acquisition of new skills and competences.
* Development of entrepreneurial capacity, primarily related to NYE.
* Training in personal skills (autonomy, adaptability, sense of responsibility, communication, etc.).
* Getting in touch directly with women from other EU’s rural areas.
* Increasing the self confidence of rural women in an individual and collective way.
* Receiving a professional and individual counseling and tutoring for running its own business.
* Active participation in consultation processes and in the design and implementation of innovative tools specifically addressed to the needs of female populations from different regions.
* Identification of the existing relations between women from rural areas and the NYE.
* Recognition of specific sectors with potential for being developed by rural women through entrepreneurship activities.
* Reaching an optimal exploitation of existing social resources in the rural areas to achieve the real conciliation and make the leap to self-employment.
* Awareness about the importance of training and the improvement of skills for rural women.
* Building local capacity for employment and diversification.
* Creation of permanent transnational networks for fostering the exchange of knowledge, experiences and expertise.
* Creating synergies between public and private actors.
* Fostering cooperation between partners and the main actors involved in the European labour market.

In conclusion, WE-RUN has permitted women from rural areas to acquire and develop skills and competences needed for their employability and personal fulfillment, mainly through entrepreneurship in NYE, which is one of the strategic priorities recognized in the Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training (ET 2020).

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 117953 Eur

Project Coordinator

SOCIEDAD PARA EL DESAROLLO DE LA PROVINCIA DE BURGOS & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Fundación Juventud y Cultura
• Institut für gesellschaftswissenschaftliche Forschung, Bildung und Information
• FONDAZIONE HALLGARTEN-FRANCHETTI CENTRO STUDI VILLA MONTESCA
• eShopSystem s.r.o.
• Association of Woman Entrepreneurs in Bulgaria SELENA
• GIP-FCIP de l’académie de Caen