Good practices in knowledge transfer for the development of rural entrepreneurship

Rural issues become more and more important since the urban expansion tends to go beyond its social and environmental sustainability. Rural development is a priority objective of the European and international political agenda. It is underpinned by the same factors as development in general. Nevertheless they could come into action only by profound changes in this area. The main challenges arise from the increased competition and the changing role of agriculture. Knowledge transfer addresses a more and more important social need of the knowledge based economy to value research outcomes by up taking it in new products and realistic policies, on the one hand and to perform a demand driven public research, on the other hand. Processes triggered by the profound changes needed in rural area are information intensive so that rural knowledge hubs and gateways gather academic staff, farmers and businesses. There are different approaches to build up such centers that struggle to transform performance research outcomes in successful rural businesses. A survey of the international experience of such initiatives led us to outline the key features that has to be considered in setting up research networks for rural renaissance, such as bottom-up approach, free or heavy subsidized advisory and mentoring services, one-to-one communication, appropriate valuation of information and communication technologies' potential, collaborative work between farmers and entrepreneurs, project based management, businessled initiatives, local products, signposting services, developing business groups, mentor guidance.