Project number: 2015-1-IS01-KA204-013171
NEWSLETTER 02
/December 2016/ www.ruralwomeninbusiness.eu
2. » The FREE Project: Needs Analysis 4. » Rural Network Groups by WiRE: History and Concept 6. » Community Driven Learning and Development: Rural Network Leaders Training in Sheffield 7. » Success Story: Tatjana‘s continental bio lavender for the whole world 8. » News & Events
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
NEWSLETTER 02 /December 2016/
The FREE Project: Research Results Released The FREE project began in late 2015 with an extensive research phase, to help us understand the needs of female business owners in rural areas. The results of this research have now been released and are being used to develop the FREE training programme which will be piloted in 2017.
Figure 1
Change in population 2004 - 2014 11,0%
7,1% 0,0%
-2,1%-5,0%
-7,2% -14,4% Bulgaria
Croatia
-3,8% -13,4% -15,0% Lithuania
Within the country
Iceland
UK
Within selected areas (average)
Research was completed in Iceland, the UK, Lithuania, Croatia and Bulgaria and what all countries have in common is that, in the selected rural areas the change in population has been more negative than the average change within the country (see figure 1). This is one of the main reasons that many rural areas are struggling economically. The World Bank has ranked economies on their ease of doing business (see figure 2). The business environment in Bulgaria and Croatia is on average more complex for running a business than the other three countries and it the need for professional support was clearly important for all women. Our research revealed that women in rural areas set up businesses or want to start businesses for many different reasons. The main motivations seen were: • To use their knowledge and expertise to exploit opportunities • To realise a personal ambition • To pursue their passion to create. The majority of women in rural areas stated that they want to pursue a passion (see figure 3 in the following page).
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Ease of Doing Business Rank
Starting a Business
Dealing with Construction Permits
Getting Electricity
Registering Property
Getting Credit
Protecting Minority Investors
Paying Taxes
Trading Across Borders
Enforcing Contracts
Resolving Insolvency
Figure 2
38
52
51
100
63
28
14
88
20
52
48
Croatia
40
83
129
66
60
70
29
38
1
10
59
Iceland
19
40
45
8
15
59
20
36
64
35
15
Lithuania
20
8
18
54
2
28
47
49
19
3
70
UK
6
17
23
15
45
19
4
15
38
33
13
Economy Bulgaria
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NEWSLETTER 02 / December 2016/
The FREE Project: Research Results Released Figure 3
Based on all the research performed, the following findings were highlighted as key to the development of the FREE training programme and are being considered in the development of our materials: • Women between the ages of 20 – 39 years old are often proportionately fewer in rural areas than in dense areas. This fact is indicated by the ongoing depopulation of rural areas. • Poor internet connections tend to be in the most rural areas so purely online learning options may be difficult for some women to access. • Blended learning, or a mixture of teaching methods, is preferred by the majority of the women that took part in the research. • Women entrepreneur’s backgrounds are very different and therefore it is important to keep in mind that they need to be able to choose between key subjects • Most often, women entrepreneurs have family obligations that limit the time they can spend on their business or business ideas. Therefore, the training needs to be efficient and flexible. • Marketing and Social Media are key skills which are lacking. • Generally, all soft skills that are desirable to possess in business endeavours, need to be developed.
According to the women surveyed, you prefer action learning with the option to receive personal guidance and have opportunities to reflect on your own situations and the outcomes of your learning. The FREE project is working to meet these needs and we look forward to working with you in 2017! 3
NEWSLETTER 02 / December 2016/
Rural Network Groups by WiRE: History and Concept (I) Women in Rural Enterprise (WiRE), has been working with rural entrepreneurs in England and Wales for over 10 years and pioneered the model of volunteer-led business network groups as a powerful mechanism of supporting business in remote rural areas.
Whilst WiRE has trained and helped to start several thousand rural businesses, our most important area of work has been our WiRE Networks. This model has been cited as Best Practice by the OECD, the UK and Welsh Governments and in 2012 WiRE was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for our work with rural business. WiRE came out of some research at Harper Adams University in England, during a period of crisis in the rural economy when many small farms were going bankrupt or struggling on under great financial pressure. This research found that most new businesses started on farms were set up and driven forward by women, but that these entrepreneurs were held back by lack of skills, knowledge and their remote location. WiRE has a core belief that women are part of the solution in their potential to contribute to rural economies
and drive the renewal of those economies. Additionally, selfemployment can be a solution for rural women wishing to enter the Labour Market.
Those projects worked best when they found champions from the local communities to lead the work. And so the idea of identifying women from within the farming community to act as In our work with rural women, innovators, leaders and changewe quickly found that while a lack makers, was born. of knowledge about business issues was a challenge for these rural entrepreneurs, the most important factor for them was a feeling of isolation – isolation from their customers but also from the business community.
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The idea of harnessing the power of women to have a positive impact came out of the experience of WiRE Director, Polly Gibb, when she had worked on development projects in Less Developed Countries.
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NEWSLETTER 02 / December 2016/
Rural Network Groups by WiRE: History and Concept (II) Over the years since we started the initiative we have developed the model and now have a network of local groups which span the country. WiRE coordinates these networks by identifying women who would like to start a local group and then supporting them as they start and grow their group. These Network Leaders organise a monthly meeting with a business focus. Usually the meetings feature a speaker (who may come from the local business community, usually from the WiRE Network), and then have plenty of time to mix and talk informally about business.
In the Peak District in England, the FREE Network Leader is Jill Turner, founder of Jill Turner Associates. With the support of the project, over the last two months, Jill has successfully organised two networking activities in the area, namely “NetWalks”. This original twist to normal networking meetings takes the participants outside to walk in the beautiful nature that the Peak District has to offer. Of course, no NetWalk is complete without a nice drink in an English pub afterwards!
Jill’s First NetWalk With the support of the FREE project, Jill is rapidly developing her NetWalks. She is starting a Facebook group and the amount of participants joining her group is constantly growing. We are very proud of the hard work Jill has put in and are sure it will lead to much success in the future! In the following article you can find out how the training for Network Groups leaders went this September in Sheffield!
It is important that these groups are allowed to be shaped by their location and members. In remote areas the groups are small – 4 or 5 women – but in less sparse areas these groups will bring together up to 30 women each month. What happens at these meetings is an enormous amount of sharing of skills, knowledge and experience. People who are facing a particular challenge can bring this to the group and learn from other’s experience.
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NEWSLETTER 02 / December 2016/
Community Driven Learning and Development: Rural Network Leaders Training in Sheffield At the end of September 2016, Inova Consultancy Ltd hosted the Network Leaders Training in Sheffield, UK. During one week, network leaders from all partner countries visited Sheffield and learned about setting up a FREE network, as well as gaining new mentoring and coaching skills to help them support their future members. They also had an opportunity to visit the Peak District National Park to meet some English business women from rural areas near Sheffield. The training, delivered jointly by WiRE and Inova, focused on the methodology of setting up new networks in rural areas and on the techniques that network leaders can use to support and coach the women who join them. As well as a range of training sessions in the classroom, the participants had a fantastic opportunity to visit the Peak District National Park and engage with a range of activities and events: The participants joined the first FREE ‘NetWalk’ on Wednesday afternoon to network and chat with local businesswomen. Since this was the first FREE network group event to take place in the UK, it was a special chance to see the project in action. The whole of Thursday was filled with outdoor activities, including a visit to a cheese farm. The special outfits for the cheese making area gave us some beautiful pictures! “I feel more confident about my business after this week, because I felt that people are genuinely interested in what I do,” said one of the participants on the final day. After this week, the network leaders are more aware of their skills and ready to put the theory into action!
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The workshop was a great opportunity to exchange ideas. Network leaders in each partnership country are going to establish their own network and during the following 10 months will try out what they have learnt and how the program works in their countries
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NEWSLETTER 02 / December 2016/
SUCCESS Tatjana‘s Continental Bio STORY Lavender for the Whole World Tatjana, who is an economist, inherited land in the heart of the Croatia province Hrvatsko zagorje. At the same time she enrolled and completed training for the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. She wanted to connect these resources and add something magical, special and unique. Thus was born the idea of planting lavender on the continent! With a full time job at a company in Zagreb, Capital City of Croatia, Tatjana now also has a plantation of lavender near Desinić, a small village in Hrvatsko Zagorje. She planted her first crops in 2003, and in the next 13 years she has had to learn a lot because she was one of the first who decided to plant this Mediterranean plant on the continent.
From her own grown lavender, Tatjana makes handmade products; fragrant bags of different sizes, essential oils, floral water, soaps, pillows, and gift packages. Products made of lavender are sold as a souvenirs, therefore her customers are mostly foreign tourists but local people often also look for fragrant bags and oil, regardless of age. "Everyone loves that smell," says Tatjana with a smile on her face. Tatjana is expanding her product range slowly, every year and she has continuous sales. "Everything about lavender makes me happy. I organize my work by myself, and it is very interesting and fun to create the final products. Products we sell are travelling all over the world. I think there is no continent where one of my products has not traveled, and there is also a part of me travelling along with them because I made them with my own hands. That makes me happy and fulfilled.“ Tatjana has a lot of plans for the future of her lavender. Currently, she is purchasing a land on which she wants to expand the plantation, plant some new sorts of aromatic plants and complete facilities that she built before. Her ultimate goal is to live from lavender. "Of course, I am aware this is not a job where you can become materially rich, but this is not what I want."
"You must be very persistent, follow your dream and do not overlook the others. Each of us has its own unique story. Basically you're alone, but if you believe, the way you will find well-intentioned people who will give you a hand."
Entrepreneur: Tatjana Pokupec Božić Business Name: OPG Tatjana Pokupec Božić Business field: Bio lavender cultivation, Lavender products, Internet selling Location: Hrvatsko zagorje, Desinić, Croatia Founding date: 2003 Visit: http://www.bio-lavanda.com/
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NEWSLETTER 02 / December 2016/
News & Events
FREE Project Training Programme
January, 2017
Within the project we are developing a training program which consists of two components: Online Rural Women’s Enterprise Academy (an e-learning platform developed with a range of modules to help gaining ‘hard skills’ for business such as product development, marketing, and social media) and Online Enterprise Circles™ for Rural Women in Business (Enterprise Circles™ focus on 'soft-skills' such as building self-confidence and developing goal setting techniques). We are launching the program in January 2017. Women can apply for the training via our website: http://ruralwomeninbusiness.eu/application-for-training/
Be the first to try it out!
Spread the Word Group Location & time country specific
“Spread the Word Groups” aim to spread the word about the project and the networks being built across rural communities. Events will promote project FREE and share the key results of the project to our target groups and wider stakeholders. For more information, contact the FREE representative in your country. Contacts details can be found below.
Contact Details: The Directorate of Labour, IS Phone: +354 51 558 00 asdis.gudmundsdottir@vmst.is web: www.vinnumalastofnun.is
BICC – Sandansk, BG Phone: +359 746 30549 e-mail: office@bicc-sandanski.org web: www.bicc-sandanski.org
Icelandic Regional Development Institute, IS Phone: +354 455 5400 e-mail: postur@byggdastofnun.is web: www.byggdastofnun.is
Inova Consultancy ltd., UK Phone: +44 (0)114 279 9091 e-mail: office@inovaconsult.com web: www.inovaconsult.com
Harper Adams University, UK Phone: +441952815237 e-mail: info@wireuk.com web: www.wireuk.org
Kaunas STP, LT Phone: +370 37 33 30 36 e-mail: info@kaunomtp.lt web: www.kaunomtp.lt
CESI, CR Phone: +385 1 2422 800 e-mail: cesi@cesi.hr, web: www.cesi.hr
Project website www.ruralwomeninbusiness.eu You can also reach & follow us on: /femaleruralenterpriseempowerment
/FREE_EU_project
/groups/8465963
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