About the Rural Enterprise Solutions Knowledge Network
“The Times they are a Changin”
You’ll be of a certain age to remember this or be a Dylan fan or both, of course!
Times are indeed changing, and at an even faster pace than when Dylan wrote his lyrics in the 1960s. Rural businesses and communities are facing some of the biggest changes in society. Many present real opportunities, whilst others may mean adjusting current practices.
Perhaps the biggest change (and challenge) of all is increasing food production whilst reducing the impact on the environment and conserving resources. Even from within this short sentence, many, many issues emerge: food security, higher outputs, lower inputs, land management, water conservation, biodiversity, the Common Agricultural Policy, animal health & welfare, crops for a changing climate and renewable energy. The list, of course, could go on and on.
An interesting development in recent years has been increasing awareness of local food and supply chains, including close links with rural tourism. For many businesses, capitalising on these trends can make a big difference to profitability.
There are potential hardships of living in rural areas such as the higher cost of living compared to living in urban areas, limited access to high speed broadband, cuts in public transport and reduced access to healthcare services.
We can provide you with up-to-date information on farming, food, energy, tourism, community initiatives, in fact anything relevant to you and your enterprise: if we don’t know the answer, we will know somebody who does. We can help arrange speakers for seminars/workshops and help you get in touch with others involved in similar activities.
Please have a look around this website. You can “Ask the Expert” and register for weekly updates, both from the
homepage or just give us a
ring or send an email.
These are some comments we’ve received…
“The updates you supply continue to be one of the most useful and relevant pieces of information I get in my in box…”
“This is a very good way to let many people know what is on in the south west.”
“to enable rural businesses in the same area to have mini conferences on useful topics and maybe follow up with bespoke practical seminar.”
“The Rural Enterprise Solutions website is an excellent resource which we use regularly.”
“An important part of rural development is spreading ideas and this project does it so well.”
What has any of this to do with Bob Dylan? Well, very little except I like the song (I fulfil both the age and fan criteria) and that things are always changing. Science and society continue to bring new understanding and new perspectives which are both exciting and challenging.
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This project is a one of a portfolio of demonstrator/pilot projects in Access to Resources and Open Innovation, in which HEIs/FECs take a leading role in facilitating innovation via integrated online service models (offering information and knowledge) with local partners, and generating innovation via co-development of ideas in open online marketplaces. This project is an Access to Resources demonstrator