Almost 250 people - stakeholders of innovation development in rural areas - took part in over 60 hours of discussions held during 20 local workshops carried out in the poviats that contain rural and urban/rural communes. The meetings were carried out in October and November 2017.
In order to work on the Action Plan, we wanted to meet with the inhabitants of rural areas, from municipalities often far from Krakow - the capital of the region in which more than 2 million of people live. Reflecting on what innovations are and what to do in order for them to appear/develop, clearly showed that a change in thinking about innovations - and looking at them as useful new solutions - is very much needed. At the same time, it is important to create conditions for the development of innovation, which is a particularly important challenge for local government (including the context of cooperation/facilities for entrepreneurs).
The identified barriers to the development of innovation, different than for the cities, are also a very important challenge for local government, which - in the dialogue with municipalities - has the possibility of a wide range of activities.
