Entrepreneurship in declining rural areas

• Keynote speech on European frameworks for entrepreneurship in areas with population decline by Serafin Pazos Vidal, Senior Expert, Rural and Territorial Development at AEIDL (European association for innovation in local development)
• Introduction to the rural development of Burgos by Ricardo Pizarro Villanueva, Director of SODEBUR, the Society for the Development of the Province of Burgos
   
• Panel debate

Participants will from different regions will engage in group discussions on their respective visions for rural entrepreneurship on the short, medium and long term.

Presentations by:

• Tim Berndt, Brandenburg, Germany – The Young Lausitz initiative
• Marco Costantino, Puglio Region, Italy, PIN - Pugliesi Innovativi

Presentation by

• Ana Lite Mateo, Deputy Assistant Director General, Deputy Directorate for Female Entrepreneurship, Gender Equality in Companies and Collective Bargaining, Institute of Women, Project Manager, Presentation of the Desafío Mujer Rural initiative
   
• Mary B Walsh, founder and Managing Director of Ire Wel Pallets Ltd., Presentation of the ACORNS programme (Accelerating the Creation Of Rural Nascent Start-ups) designed to support early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland

Presentations by: 

• Ricardo Gonçalves from Invest & Startup Fundão, Portugal, on how Fundão has built an ecosystem for digitalization of businesses and how they had been upskilling people (preliminary confirmation for topic and date)
• Gustavs M. Upmanis, Founder of the Latvian Visas Iespējas (All Opportunities) and Darba Tinderis (MatchWork) platforms, on the “Go Remote” digital platform for youth employment, identified by the RuralYouthFuture project.

Participants will walk to a location in the city of Burgos where there will possibilities to interact with proponents of entrepreneurial initiatives in rural parts of the Province, e.g. initiatives linked to local cultural and heritage.