The Path to Economic Resilience in Rural Areas

The OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) helps local, regional, and national governments unleash the potential of entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises, promote inclusive and sustainable regions and cities, boost local job creation, and support sound tourism policies. In 2019, the Working Party on Rural Policy adopted the OECD Principles on Rural Policy. 

The Principles are designed to assist national, regional and local governments in implementing more effective rural policies to improve the quality of life and a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive future for all. This workshop is part of a series of activities aimed at gaining insight into how OECD member countries are putting the Principles into practice.

Rural places are very diverse across the OECD, characterised by a variety of local economies, and undervalued assets. The mix of industries present in rural communities is influenced by the constraints of geography and scale. Rural economies are more vulnerable to shocks. Major employers leaving, changes in policies or the economic downturn of a neighbouring city can disrupt rural communities’ development paths. Rural economies are constrained by higher relative fixed costs, which make the viability of operations more difficult and the returns on investment weaker. This affects decisions in both the public and private sectors. Megatrends including demographic change, digitalisation and globalisation are also transforming rural economies. Given the evolving nature of the rural economy, it is imperative to re-dedicate resources to rural communities in order to foster resilience and ensure their continued prominence in the future.

The OECD Principles on Rural policy encourages leveraging the potential of rural areas to benefit from globalisation, trade and digitalisation and supporting entrepreneurship to foster job creation and build resilience in rural areas. This coupled with locally tailored economic development strategies that value and build upon place-based assets could foster recreation, amenity-based, and service economies in rural places. Creating a path to economic resilience in rural areas should also increase the capacity to respond to shocks and facilitate the utilisation of such events as a catalyst for innovative thinking. In this hybrid workshop, co-hosted by the Netherlands and CFE, the presenters will share different perspectives on the path to economic resilience in rural communities along with examples of national, regional or local initiatives.

• Understanding the factors that could improve the resilience of rural economies.
• Crafting policy that aligns with rural realities. How to reimagine the approach to rural economic development and the role of national, regional and local government?
• What is the role of urban regions? Understanding the economic interdependence of rural and urban areas in creating resilient rural regions.

• What are the opportunities for the social economy to increase well-being in rural areas?
• Overcoming tensions that emerge between economic, social, and environmental dimensions of resilience as it relates to rural economies and business activity in rural communities.