The green and digital transition is at the heart of the transformational change needed in European rural areas. This will require diversification and changes in production in the rural economy. In this context, SHERPA has published a discussion paper on Change in production and diversification of the rural economy.
The aim of the discussion paper is to invite the SHERPA Multi-Actor Platforms (MAPs) to discuss three key questions:
- What are the key needs for the development of the rural economy in your MAP, and how can they be addressed most effectively?
- How can policy interventions support positive changes in the diversification of the rural economy? What can public administrations (at all levels) do to facilitate and encourage these changes?
- What are the research needs and gaps?
This discussion paper aims to stimulate the debate by presenting the key issues related to the process of diversification of the rural economy. The paper provides a compilation of knowledge around four key dimensions for rural diversification:
- Entrepreneurship, employment & new business models;
- Smartness and digitalisation;
- Farm diversification;
- Response to climate and bioeconomy development.
Furthermore, the paper includes a synthesis of research findings identified in recent research projects with the help of a web crawler, an exercise that resulted in the preparation of three databases for the SHERPA project.
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