Tailoring entrepreneurship support to rural areas

Overview

Based on existing research, the aim of this project is to adapt the Rural Entrepreneurship Framework for Local Economic and Communal Thriving (REFLECT) previously developed by the project team.

The framework is made up of four key drivers of thriving rural enterprise contexts and 11 underpinning dimensions. The project will help to understand the fit between these drivers and dimensions, and the specifics of the North East context. By helping to develop typologies of rural enterprise contexts, this will enable a better understanding of key local drivers for rural enterprise and how support can be tailored to diverse local environments.

The research is being funded through NICRE’s Research and Innovation Fund.

Next steps

The team is inviting those involved in supporting rural enterprises to share their views in an interview to help understand the key drivers of thriving rural contexts for small businesses. Participants will receive a short brief with some questions before hand. This information will then be used to develop a refined version of the framework which will subsequently be developed into an interactive online tool for free widespread use.

If you are interested in being involved, please contact Jonathan Kimmitt at jonathan.kimmitt@durham.ac.uk