Revitalizing rural areas through innovation and entrepreneurship: public and private initiatives to train, attract and retain human capital

The European Commission has increasingly highlighted the importance of fostering conditions that support the emergence and flourishing of innovation and entrepreneurship across all regions. The Long-Term Vision for EU’s Rural Areas recognises the key role that innovation can play in revitalising these territories and transforming them into places of opportunity, while the New European Innovation Agenda emphasises the need to accelerate and strengthen innovation across the EU and thereby address the existing territorial innovation divide. This report, which is part of the Startup Village Forum’s research activities, analyses successful initiatives, supported by public policies or private efforts, which focus on attracting, training or retaining human capital to bolster entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems in European non-urban areas. The analyzed initiatives - selected for their sustainability, resilience, replicability, inclusivity, cohesiveness, and urban-rural networks - have been promoted by public actors in Ireland (Connected Hubs), Spain (RAISE Youth) and Sweden (Lärcentrum), and by private ones in Portugal (Rural Move) and Italy (Incubatore SEI). They vary widely in terms of their typology, objectives, operational approaches, target groups, services provided, and implementation periods. They leverage urban-rural networks, thus enhancing brain circulation and brain bank. The countries hosting these initiatives present a heterogeneous distribution of tertiary education across cities, towns and suburbs, and rural areas, highlighting a north-south divide. The study shows that all the initiatives have been supported by urban-rural networks and have enhanced the inclusiveness of people coming from outside the area. Additionally, it reveals that key elements for their success, apart from the participation in urban-rural networks, include close collaboration with higher educational institutions, engagement with public institutions, and robust political support across different tiers of government.