Rural areas are important when developing economies in Europe, both when it comes to traditional rural business, such as farming and new businesses. Support however is more often focused in traditional rural business then new businesses, meaning many entrepreneurs in these areas face an obstacle to accessing training which can help them set up new companies. Women in rural areas require extra support, since they are underrepresented in business; often face extra obstacles such as a lack of self-confidence or dealing with caring responsibilities and are often working in isolated areas with a need to build up their support networks. Women are also moving away from rural areas to more populated ones, in search of better opportunities, which is leading to ‘brain drain’ in some areas. The objectives of this project are to assist women from rural areas in the 5 partner countries (Iceland, UK, Lithuania, Croatia and Bulgaria) to become successful entrepreneurs with a focus on small business development. The partners involved are experienced in working with women entrepreneurs in rural areas, with qualified staff and extensive networks for dissemination. Based on their knowledge and expertise of the needs of women in their countries, partners will work with groups from already defined rural areas close to them. The project will have several outputs starting with an extensive research across all partner countries, including focus groups, desk research and online surveys. There will be an online training programme for the women, focusing on hard skills which will be supported by the development of Enterprise Circles™ which will be developed based on an existing methodology from Inova in the UK. A Facilitators Guide will be produced, providing guidelines for the trainers and how they can deliver the methodology in the best way. Also, a Guide for Policy Makers will be produced, where recommendations regarding support for women in rural areas will be outlined. Dissemination activity will be extensive, using social media and a dedicated project website along with more traditional material such as bookmarks and postcards. Multiplier Events will be included, such as Spread the Word Dissemination groups and a Final Conference. The methodology that will be used to support women will be threefold: 1/ Rural Business Women's networks will be developed based on the idea of Community Driven Learning and Development, giving groups of women in the same areas opportunities to meet and provide peer support and mentoring. One leader in each pilot region will be appointed, who will have training in the methodology by attending seminars with participants from other partner countries. Enterprise Circles™ will be delivered face to face and online, to women in rural areas. The method which uses a blend of Action Learning, Mentoring and Coaching has been developed and used in the UK with good results in face to face seminars with other target groups. Here it will be adapted to the needs of women in rural areas and to be delivered using technology to deliver virtually in order to provide access to those in isolated areas. 3/ The project will offer creativity workshops to the participants, so they can develop their products and services and bring them to a new level. Results: The target group will strengthen both their hard skills and soft skills through a range of workshops and learning materials and methodologies. They will also gain access to stronger support networks and benefit from working with trained mentors. The end result will be an increase in the number of women owned companies in rural areas. As a result of the above, rural communities will gain stronger and more stabilized economies through increasing and expanding companies owned by women entrepreneurs. The participating organizations will have more qualified staff that will have access to new tools and methods for improving their customer relationships in the longer term. Other stakeholders, such as business development offices will have a better overview and understanding of the needs of the target group. Policy makers will have access to materials that will assist them in making new policies on employment and enterprise in rural areas.
Business support in rural areas is more often focused in traditional rural business then new businesses, meaning many entrepreneurs in these areas face an obstacle to accessing training which can help them set up new companies. Women in rural areas require extra support, since they are underrepresented in business; often face extra obstacles such as a lack of self-confidence or dealing with caring responsibilities and are often working in isolated areas with a need to build up their support networks. The objectives of this project was to assist women entrepreneurs from rural areas in the 5 partner countries (Iceland, UK, Lithuania, Croatia and Bulgaria) to become successful entrepreneurs with a focus on small business development. Based on their knowledge and expertise of the needs of women in their countries, partners worked with groups from already defined rural areas close to them. The projects consortium has developed several outputs starting with an extensive research across all partner countries, including focus groups, desk research and online surveys. An online training programme has been developed, available on the training website www.ruralwomeninbusiness.eu. The platform focus is on hard skills modules and interactive soft skills modules, supported by the development of Virtual Enterprise Circles™ which will be developed based on an existing methodology from Inova in the UK. A Facilitators Guide for Enterprise Circles was produced, providing guidelines for the trainers and how they can deliver the methodology in the best way. Also, a Guide for Policy Makers has been produced, where recommendations regarding support for women in rural areas will be outlined. Dissemination activity in the project was extensive, where social media was utilized, a project website developed along with more traditional materials such as postcards. Multiplier Events were included, called Spread the Word Dissemination groups. A final conference was held on the 17th of April in Sauðárkrókur, Iceland, where the projects results were introduced and where rural women entrepreneurs came together and made valuable contact. The methodology that was developed was threefold: 1) Online training in hard skills and soft skills. A total of 5 hard skills modules were developed: E-sales, Product Development, Marketing and Social Media, Finance, Business Strategy and Export. 15 interactive soft skills exercises have been developed on the website.. 2/ Rural Business Women's networks, based on the idea of Community Driven Learning and Development, giving groups of women in the same areas opportunities to meet and provide peer support and mentoring. One leader in each pilot region was appointed, who will have training in the methodology by attending seminars with participants from other partner countries. 2) Virtual Enterprise Circles™ were delivered face to face and online, to women in rural areas. The method, which uses a blend of Action Learning, Mentoring and Coaching, has been developed and used in the UK with good results in face to face seminars with other target groups. Here it will be adapted to the needs of women in rural areas and were delivered via the internet in order to provide access to women in isolated areas. A total of 6 partners worked together on the project. They are experienced in working with women entrepreneurs in rural areas, with qualified staff and extensive networks for dissemination. One partner had to leave the consortium due to personal reasons of the coordinator. Other partners are: Inova Consultancy, UK: Consultancy service in the field of gender, non-traditional field and entrepreneurship. CES Croatia: Feminist organization that advocates the advancement of women and gender equality IRDI - Icelandic Regional Development Institute: Monitors and researches the regional development in Iceland BICC Sandanski, Bulgaria: A Business Information and Consulting Center - a non governmental organization specializing in local economic development, supporting SME's. Kaunas STP, Lithuania: Research and development and a technology park Results: Research has shown that through the participation on the training platform and the virtual circles he target group has strengthened their hard skills and soft skills. Their participation in the networks has gained them stronger support networks and they have benefited greatly from them. The long term benefits are hard to assess at this time but will hopefully result in an increase in the number of women owned companies in rural areas. The participating organizations have now more qualified staff that will have access to new tools and methods for improving their service for entrepreneurd in the longer term. Stakeholders, such as business development offices have access to the Policy Guide that will help them to focus on assistance for the target group, contributing to more quality service and better understanding of the needs of the target group, women entrepreneu