Imagine small towns losing people and services — shops closing, young people leaving. Some local entrepreneurs try to fix these problems by starting social businesses (think community cafés, care services, local food co-ops), but they often lack support and training. RurInno brought together 4 award-winning social enterprises from across Europe with 2 research institutes to figure out what actually works. They created a hands-on toolkit and training programme so these rural changemakers can learn from each other and get better at what they do.
Rural communities across Europe are losing population, services, and economic activity. Social entrepreneurs try to fill these gaps but often lack training, support infrastructure, and recognition — making it hard for them to grow their impact or sustain their operations.
A practice toolkit created by practitioners in research-practice labs, plus a structured training programme with workshops, field inspections, and joint analysis sessions. The project also produced field research insights from 4 social enterprises operating in structurally weak rural regions across 5 countries.
If you are a rural development agency dealing with declining communities and struggling to support local social enterprises — this project developed a practice toolkit created by practitioners in research-practice labs, plus structured training modules including workshops, field inspections, and best-practice learning methods tested across 4 social enterprises in 5 countries.
If you are a social enterprise incubator looking for proven methods to train and upskill rural social entrepreneurs — this project built a 26-month structured training programme with knowledge exchange secondments, covering skills like business model development and innovation capacity building, validated with 6 consortium partners across 5 European countries.
If you are a local authority trying to foster social entrepreneurship in your region but lacking practical guidance — this project produced field research insights from 4 participating social enterprises and their rural regions, plus a toolkit designed to help create enabling environments for social enterprise activities.
The entire project operated on EUR 225,000 EU funding across 6 partners over 26 months. The toolkit and training modules were developed through staff exchange secondments, meaning costs were primarily personnel and travel. Licensing or replication costs are not specified in the project data.
The project was designed with transferability in mind — the practice toolkit was created by practitioners in research-practice labs specifically for broader use. Training modules (workshops, field inspections, joint analysis sessions) are methodology-based and could be replicated in other rural regions. However, no large-scale rollout data is available.
Based on available project data, the project was funded under MSCA-RISE (a staff exchange scheme), and outputs were intended for knowledge sharing. The project website at rural-innovations.net was the dissemination channel. Specific IP or licensing terms are not detailed in the available data.
The consortium spanned 5 countries: Austria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, and Poland. Field research was conducted in the rural regions surrounding each of the 4 participating social enterprises, giving cross-European coverage of structurally weak areas.
The project produced 7 deliverables total, including 1 demonstrated practice toolkit created by practitioners in research-practice labs. Additional outputs included a structured training programme with workshops, field inspections, and joint analysis sessions delivered during innovation secondments.
The project closed in March 2018 after its 26-month run. The coordinator, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS) in Germany, may still maintain expertise in this area. No follow-up funding or continuation project is indicated in the available data.
The RurInno consortium of 6 partners across 5 countries (Austria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Poland) blends research with practice: 2 research organisations paired with 4 social enterprises (2 classified as SMEs), yielding a 33% industry ratio. The coordinator, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS) in Germany, is a recognised research body — not a commercial entity. The presence of 4 award-winning social enterprises as both research subjects and active partners means the outputs were shaped by real-world practitioners, not just academics. However, there is no large corporate or government agency in the consortium, which limits immediate commercial scaling potential.
Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS), Germany — a social science research institute specialising in spatial development
Want to bring RurInno's rural social enterprise toolkit to your region? SciTransfer can connect you with the research team and help adapt the training programme to your local context.
