Overview
Substantial national and international evidence suggests a disconnect between rural businesses and communities and the research and innovation ecosystem. Rural businesses are resilient and resourceful and make up around 25% of UK businesses. They could help the UK lead the way with innovation missions such as green growth, healthy ageing and adaptation to environmental change.
We worked with Innovate UK to review existing evidence concerning how entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems differ in rural areas, consider how innovation is best encouraged and harnessed in rural areas, and explore implications for future innovation support capabilities in the UK.
This project was funded by Economic and Social Research Council and Innovation & Research Caucus for funding this work. With thanks to the project sponsors at UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) for their input into the research.
