Inspired by the European focus on smart regions, 2 members of Euromontana: Lars Hustveit (Sogn og Fjordane County Municipality, Norway) and Gianluca Lentini (Poliedra – Politecnico di Milano, Italy) have written an article that highlights the dimension of “smart rural regions”.
Our starting point is: there are good reasons to include the rural areas as contributors to growth. These areas possess huge resources, especially when the ambition is for a greener economy. Active policies should guarantee that the rural areas get fair economic repercussions when their resources are exploited. These active policies should ensure that interesting jobs for well educated and creative young people will be available in rural areas.
Our focus is on the fundamental factor underlying innovation and smart development in rural areas, the human resources. This focus encompasses a need for international cooperation, for quality ICT-infrastructure and for better understanding and management of rural innovation systems.
Don’t hesitate to send back your comments! Please see the article here.
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12 July 2016
