Entrepreneurship

Rural coworking spaces create opportunities for cooperation and innovation in rural areas while helping to attract new professionals to settle in the countryside.

Many small towns have the problem of vacant sales spaces and an innovative concept  to revitalise city centres is to offer flexible rental options to pop-up shops. This was the winning initiative of the 2019 Rural Inspiration Awards in the 'Popular Vote' category.

SILTA supports entrepreneurship among young people by providing a cooperative structure through which they can grow their business ideas and receive training, mentoring and peer support.

Promoting the sustainable management of small, privately owned forests. This is the winning initiative of the 2019 Rural Inspiration Awards in the 'LEADER' category.

A company that produces ice-cider in northern Sweden, combined RDP support and crowdfunding to plant an apple orchard that would support its production needs.

A company created a modular rearing system that allows them to combine egg and quality rooster meat production, while respecting the environment and animal welfare.

A start-up company specialising in outdoor sports activities used RDP support to purchase equipment and respond to increasing demand for adventure tourism.

A company producing rye gin and whiskey used RDP support to increase its production capacity to meet the demand of national and international markets.

A pilot project to demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of using solar energy.

A young female farmer introduced a blackberry plantation into a wheat and barley production area and created added value by developing a new range of products. This was the winning initiative of the 2019 Rural Inspiration Awards in the 'Improving competitiveness' category.