The European Startup Village Forum

This event has ended.

This 2023 edition of the Forum discussed the main elements and enabling conditions of the Startup Village concept through a genuine science-for-policy interaction, supporting the identification and analysis of triggering factors for innovation and startup creation in rural areas.

Watch the event

applied sciences | European territorial cooperation | sustainable development | smart city | rural development | rural region
Tuesday 28 February 2023, 09:00 - 17:30 (CET)
Belgium
Live streaming available

Programme

28 Feb 2023, 08:30 - 09:20 (CET)
Registration and welcome coffee
09:30 - 10:20 (CET)
Welcome and opening statements
Welcome address by Mikel LANDABASO ALVAREZ, Director, European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development
Elisa FERREIRA, European Commissioner for Regional Policy and Reforms
Maria da Graça CARVALHO, Member of the European Parliament
Apostolos TZITZIKOSTAS, First Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions
10:20 - 10:30 (CET)
Video message from Dubravka ŠUICA, Vice-President for Demography and Democracy, European Commission
10:30 - 11:15 (CET)
What is a Startup Village? The conceptualisation
Moderators: Fernando MÉRIDA MARTÍN and Simone SASSO, European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Bryonny GOODWIN-HAWKINS, main author of the conceptualisation paper
Discussants:
Daniela STORTI, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA) and Riabitare l’Italia Association, Italy
Radim SRŠEŇ, Mayor of Dolní Studénky, Deputy Minister of Regional Development of the Czech Republic and Member of the European Committee of the Regions
11:15 - 11:45 (CET)
Coffee break
11:45 - 12:30 (CET)
Open discussion - Experiences from the territories: Listening to rural innovators' voices
Moderator: Pascale VAN DOREN, Team Leader, Rural Pact Support Office
Liam CRONIN, CEO Research, Development and Innovation Hub, Killorglin, Ireland
Ricardo GONÇALVES, Manager @ Invest & Startup Fundão, Fundão, Portugal
Sotiris TSOUKARELIS, The High Mountain Cooperative, Tzoumakers, Greece
Marion ECKARDT, Vice-President, European LEADER Association (ELARD)
12:30 - 13:30 (CET)
Open discussion - New evidence on rural innovation ecosystem functioning
Moderator: Magda DE CARLI, Deputy Director, European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Michelle MARSHALIAN, Regional and Rural Policy Unit, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities
Simona TONDELLI, RURITAGE Horizon project
Kristina ŠERMUKŠNYTĖ-ALEŠIŪNIENĖ, Director of AgriFood Digital Innovation Hub, Lithuania
Evelyn REINMUTH, Hub of European Universities Alliance
Chiara TAGLIARO and Ilaria MARIOTTI, coordinators of COST Action and CORAL-ITN projects on the role of new working spaces supporting the development of innovative ecosystems in rural areas
13:30 - 14:30 (CET)
Lunch
14:30 - 15:30 (CET)
Policies, knowledge and instruments for rural innovation and entrepreneurship
Moderator: Mario MILOUCHEV, Director, European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
Maura FARRELL, Associate Professor University of Galway, & coordinator of FLIARA on women-led innovation (HORIZON Europe)
Andy ZYNGA, CEO, EIT-FOOD
Tom JONES, President of ERCA, European Rural Community Alliance and member of the European Rural Parliament Steering Group
Edina OCSKO, Project Coordinator of Smart Rural 21 & Smart Rural 27 projects. Director of E40
15:30 - 16:00 (CET)
Coffee break
16:00 - 17:00 (CET)
Policy Roundtable – Looking ahead: making it easier for innovative entrepreneurship in rural villages
Moderator: Salla SAASTAMOINEN,Deputy Director-General, European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Isabel FERREIRA, Portuguese State Secretary for Regional Development
Päivi EKDAHL, Deputy Governor of Lapland, Finland
Emil BOC, Chair of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER), European Committee of the Regions
Juan GARCÍA-GALLARDO FRINGS, Vice-President of Castilla and Leon, Spain
Franc BOGOVIČ, Member of the European Parliament, Co-Chair of the RUMRA & Smart Villages Intergroup
Juana LÓPEZ PAGÁN, Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Spain
17:00 - 17:15 (CET)
The way forward: launch of the Startup Village mapping tool
Mikel LANDABASO ALVAREZ, Director, European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Elisa BAZZANI, European Commission, Joint Research Centre
17:15 - 17:30 (CET)
Closing remarks
Salla SAASTAMOINEN, Deputy Director-General, European Commission, Joint Research Centre
17:30 - 19:00 (CET)
Cocktail reception

Practical information

When: Tuesday 28 February 2023, 09:00 - 17:30 (CET)
Where: Berlaymont Piazza, Brussels
Belgium
Languages: English
Number of seats: 150

Report

The Startup Village Forum is part of a larger vision for rural areas in the EU. In 2021, the European Commission set out the Long-Term Vision for the EU’s Rural Areas. The Vision identifies several areas of action toward stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas and communities by 2040. The Vision recognises the enabling role of innovation to empower citizens and entrepreneurs to seize these opportunities offered by current societal, environmental and digital transformations. It includes a flagship action on Research and Innovation for Rural Communities aiming at contributing to the development of a strong ecosystem, which brings together public and private players for rural communities to thrive, and be an attractive place for innovators to work and live.

In this context, the annual European Startup Village Forum intends to promote knowledge exchange and cooperation activities and to work as an open space where institutions and stakeholders can meet, discuss and shape action for startup-driven innovation in rural areas.

Program

The 2023 edition of the Forum discussed the main elements and enabling conditions of the Startup Village concept through a genuine science-for-policy interaction, supporting the identification and analysis of triggering factors for innovation and startup creation in rural areas. Participants debated and proposed concrete actions on how the Forum can develop as a linking device to work together with existing initiatives and connect actors around the challenge of startup creation in rural areas. They also discussed about the importance of developing performing place-based innovation ecosystems.

The Forum served as an opportunity to discuss a number of ongoing experiences related to Startup Villages as well as supporting tools, both established by the European Commission and developed by different stakeholders. For example, some support measures for the promotion of innovation and startup creation in rural areas and the improvement of framework conditions included in different EU policies and programmes were presented.

The Forum contributed to the identification of a few themes for a research and knowledge exchange agenda around the Startup Village concept, whose results will inform and frame the following edition of the Forum. The event was supported by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre through scientific analysis and knowledge exchange, in connection with the activities of the Rural Observator, and it was chaired by the European Commission Vice-President Dubravka ŠUICA, Commissioners FERREIRA, GABRIEL, and WOJCIECHOWSKI, and European Committee of the Regions Vice-President, Apostolos TZITZIKOSTAS.

SVF Day of the event — © European Commission

Contacts

General contact

Joint Research Centre (JRC)

Name: Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Email: JRC-STARTUPVILLAGEFORUMec [dot] europa [dot] eu