Project objective: The main objective of this project is to encourage youth rural entrepreneurship by providing a complete package of all the theoretical and practical knowledge and skills needed to start a business in rural areas. The project DigiRuR aims to increase the opportunities for starting up of own activities belonging to youths in rural areas. The project creates potentials for increasing the living standard and the quality of life in rural areas in total. Young people will gain knowledge, skills, and self-confidence about how to develop in their local communities. This would have a serious social and economic effect – reducing domestic and international migration, generating a local economic revival, and then a number of social, economic, cultural, and other benefits.

Specific objectives:

• To engage stakeholders in discussion and collaborations for promotion and facilitation of rural youth sustainable entrepreneurship;
• To provide rural youth, with a better understanding of entrepreneurship and its role in the sustainable development of rural areas;
• To create an accessible ICT based environment for improvement of entrepreneurial knowledge through a web-based platform, open educational resources, digital handbook, and mentoring;
• To equip VET providers servicing rural areas with versatile digital tools; and
• To meet European Youth Goals, including “Moving Rural Youth Forward” by motivating young people to stay living and start a sustainable business in rural areas exploiting digital resources using integrated approaches and good practices.

Target group: The main target group is rural youth (legal adults 18-30 y.o) and other motivated individuals. Additionally, the project will include organizations or individuals who are engaged in activities in rural areas that may be supportive to the main target group such as VET institutions and educators, rural area public authorities and local administration, local youth associations, local cultural associations, local unions, professional associations and chambers (local or active in rural areas), local employers, local development associations and policymakers.

Effects:

• Free Access to educational material (OER) for rural entrepreneurship and digital upskilling;
• Easy access to updated and tailor-made educational packages from VET or other education providers;
• An entrepreneurial ecosystem to support them with active engagement of public and private stakeholders;
• Enhanced capacity for making a living in rural areas, through sustainable business and high revenue employment;
• Offering a more satisfying, secure (economically, socially, environmentally) and healthy living in contact with nature.