Good practices in knowledge transfer for the development of rural entrepreneurship
Author:Prof. univ. dr. Gabriel Popescu, Lect. univ. dr. Ioan Ildiko
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Abstract:
Rural issues become more and more
important since the urban expansion tends to
go beyond its social and environmental sustainability.
Rural development is a priority
objective of the European and international
political agenda. It is underpinned by the
same factors as development in general.
Nevertheless they could come into action
only by profound changes in this area. The
main challenges arise from the increased
competition and the changing role of agriculture.
Knowledge transfer addresses a
more and more important social need of the
knowledge based economy to value research
outcomes by up taking it in new products and
realistic policies, on the one hand and to
perform a demand driven public research, on
the other hand. Processes triggered by the
profound changes needed in rural area are
information intensive so that rural knowledge
hubs and gateways gather academic
staff, farmers and businesses. There are different
approaches to build up such centers
that struggle to transform performance
research outcomes in successful rural businesses.
A survey of the international experience
of such initiatives led us to outline the
key features that has to be considered in setting
up research networks for rural renaissance,
such as bottom-up approach, free or
heavy subsidized advisory and mentoring
services, one-to-one communication, appropriate
valuation of information and communication
technologies' potential, collaborative
work between farmers and entrepreneurs,
project based management, businessled
initiatives, local products, signposting
services, developing business groups, mentor
guidance.