UIIN Magazine - ARDENT Special Issue
Why ARDENT?
Rural depopulation is becoming a major policy challenge in Europe. More employment opportunities have increasingly been concentrated in urban centers, leaving rural regions with ever-continuing down-fall in terms of population size and economic development.
To address these challenges, The Erasmus+ funded project ARDENT (Advancing Rural Development through Entrepreneurship Education for Adults) targets adult learners in the rural communities (aged 25 and over) of various professional backgrounds possessing formal education but currently unemployed. It aims at improving the lifelong learning opportunities for those in rural areas to inspire their transition from job seekers to job creators. Through a Community-Based Learning (CBL) approach to entrepreneurial skills development and establishment of Rural Councils, ARDENT actively engages various stakeholders in co-creation of better future and boosting the development in their rural area.
Latest updates from the project!
ARDENT newsletter – issue 4
IO3: Rural Entrepreneurship Accelerator
IO2: Needs analysis report
Our objectives
Foster the development of entrepreneurship skills among adult learners in rural areas
Assist in implementation of innovative solutions to rural pressing challenges
Boost attractiveness of rural regions among youth and urban communities, by creating new employment opportunities
Increase HEIs’ engagement with their rural environment through adult learning offers
Widely disseminate the results across Europe, to bolster integration of rural entrepreneurship and collaboration practices in HEI curriculum.
ARDENT outputs
During ARDENT Project lifetime, we will launch 5 rural councils in partner regions, analyse needs, and accordingly design and implement the Rural Entrepreneurship teaching program at partner universities, carry out 20 rural entrepreneurship adult student projects in respective regions, and increase capacity by offering workshops to rural communities and by expanding their networks and interaction with their urban counterparts. Thus, our outputs:
- Rural Council Building Tool-Box serves as a guideline for creating rural councils, unifying the region and enabling cross-institutional collaboration
- Rural Consultation Roadmap & Needs Analysis Reports highlights rural needs and assists in bridging the divide between the HEI and its regional community through regional consultation events that require innovative solutions
- Rural Entrepreneurship Community-based Learning Pack is the basis for a two-semester training course, which develops relevant entrepreneurial skills through hands-on projects addressing societal and business challenges.
Interested in participating in
the project or want to learn
more about ARDENT?
Get in touch with us!
We are always happy to hear from you
