26 de July de 2021
There's a yearning for the rural. And a lot of it. It's always been there. It just seems like it's dormant, waiting for something to awaken it. Until the pandemic hit.
- The RRN is exploring the various initiatives that have emerged at the national level to facilitate teleworking from rural areas.
- Entrepreneurs using new technologies help digital nomads work from villages.
- The option of teleworking also opens the way to other rural accommodation options: coliving, cohousing, coworking, rural tourism, etc.
The rural world offers remote work opportunities that have not been fully appreciated until now. Remote work —forced by the lockdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic—has become a tool for attracting a changing population, attracting talent, stimulating economic activity, revitalizing cultural and leisure offerings, and strengthening the social fabric of rural areas.
New digital environments enable rural areas to become places where it's possible to live and work, bringing rural life closer to those interested in it. Similarly, the experience of moving to live and work remotely from a village opens up new models of coexistence and habitability in rural environments.
Initiatives detected by the NRN
- National Network of Welcoming Villages / National
A total of 30 small towns are now part of the "National Network of Teleworking-Friendly Towns" in this first phase. This project is promoted by the Red Eléctrica Group and El Hueco , with support from Booking.com , and promotes rural Spain as an optimal destination for remote work.
The Welcoming Villages Network is seeking to grow and is therefore open to all communities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants who wish to join.
- Remote villages / Santa Cruz de Tenerife
These entrepreneurs seek to revive rural areas by creating three-week experiences where small groups of remote workers collaborate directly with local entrepreneurs. They have already successfully implemented their first pilot project in northern Tenerife. For now, they are operating regionally, but are receiving requests from other countries.
- Rural Lab Canary Islands / Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Consulting firm specializing in improving rural society and the socioeconomic ecosystems of the Canary Islands' interior through the development of sustainable and innovative projects that revitalize the islands' local areas.
- Rural Talent / National
Entrepreneurial community that promotes rural repopulation by strengthening entrepreneurship and professional development ecosystems in rural areas. It currently has 227 projects and 57 entrepreneurs in its pipeline.
- ANCYCO / National
It is the National Association of Coliving and Coworking . As such, it has a platform - www.colivingycoworking.es - from which they have created a groundbreaking and innovative new project: a reality show about rural entrepreneurship: Rural Mind . This reality show features 40 entrepreneurs who will live together in three colivings while trying to shape their projects and compete not only to win a prize of 3,000 euros, but also to see if their entrepreneurial dream can be fulfilled. The locations will be in Aragón, Castilla – La Mancha, and Castilla y León. The program can be followed through Rural Mind's YouTube and Twitch channels.
- Nathium / Axarquía (Andalusia)
Teleworking service in the Axarquía region (Málaga, Andalusia) in collaboration with the Málaga Provincial Council, which is creating a network to welcome new residents in this region.
- Ruralize / National
This platform works to revitalize rural areas nationwide. Some of its projects include coworking and innovation spaces.
- Tararaina / Aragon
A recently created social initiative cooperative in Aragon, born from a collective initiative. They are currently developing their website to offer work and home-sharing services in this region.
- I'm going back to the countryside / National and Latin America
Calling itself the rural "Wallapop," it offers a housing and job search engine with active listings in rural areas in both Spain and Latin America.
- La Grulla Coworking Rural / Ávila
A collaborative project whose objective is to contribute initiatives for the development of the town and its surroundings while attracting and retaining talented people who, thanks to their work model, can carry out these projects in rural areas. They operate from Candeleda (Ávila) to Castile and León, Castile and La Mancha, Extremadura, and Madrid.
- Rural Citizen 2030 / National and Latin America
A virtual rural community based in Vitoria, Spain, that supports social innovation in rural areas and serves the rest of Spain and Latin America. In addition to consulting projects, they also offer training for rural entrepreneurship.
- Revitalize the rural environment / National
Clubhouse room where a group of rural entrepreneurs chat once a week or every two weeks about rural initiatives and share their experiences with their rural entrepreneurship businesses. It is available in audio format and requires an invitation.
- Atelier15Madrid / Madrid
An architecture and urban planning workshop—with European influence, based in Paris—that restores existing heritage through collaborative housing projects. They work with the Spanish Association Against Depopulation .
- Generative Tourism School / National
Isabel Sánchez Tejado is an entrepreneur dedicated to transforming rural areas into sustainable tourist destinations through a method she calls the "Generative Tourism Model," which enables this transformation in five steps. She founded the Generative Tourism School .