Abstract:

New educational initiatives in rural mountain areas will be developed in this project. This project was launched by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) in 2016 and it is based on promoting creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in several national and international rural environments, using the scientific methodology in the analysis of natural and cultural resources and their potential focused to the socio-economic development in the medium and long term (2017-2020).

Field work in mountainous areas environments and towns, the analysis of the data obtained and its corroboration by panels of experts will lead to the organization of the International Conference for the Development of Rural Mountain Areas. This will help to raise awareness of the need to support the revival of rural communities as well as public participation in debates and discussions on the future of European mountain in Horizon 2020 initiatives.

The programme is structured in a holistic, cross-cutting and interdisciplinary approach. To date, more than twenty Spanish organizations, European and American universities have participated in the project. Through its experts, researchers and scientists in the various actions will talk about the following five priority areas: Health (study of healthy habits in rural mountain areas); Nature and Environment (New consumer demands, comprehensive tourism experiences); Cultural tangible and intangible heritage (ICT and Mobile APP serving heritage conservation), Study of buildings and their uses in rural mountain areas; Training and Entrepreneurship (Talent Management and Rural Entrepreneurship, adaptation of traditional industries to new markets).

Keywords:

Innovation and creativity, Small scale entrepreneurship, Rural Renaissance, Mountain rural areas, Cultural Heritage, ICT, Mobile App.