• The National Rural Network (RRN) has organized a workshop on youth entrepreneurship in rural areas related to the forestry sector.
• Forest management, the _CO2 market and aid for entrepreneurship are some of the topics discussed by the participants.

For this reason, the RRN organized the conference "Youth Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas in the Forestry Sector," which featured experiences from the autonomous communities of Catalonia, Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha, Galicia , and the Community of Madrid , bringing together 120 participants.

The objectives of the event were to learn about business projects and best practices promoted by young people in the forestry sector in rural areas, so that these experiences could serve as inspiration and connect other young entrepreneurs from different autonomous communities.

Experts and young entrepreneurs

"In Spain, what's needed isn't so much a _CO2 market dedicated to plantations as in other countries with deforestation, but rather good management of the dense forest cover." These were some of the opinions expressed during the two roundtable discussions that structured the event, in which one invited expert participated at each panel, alongside the young entrepreneurs.

Carmen Avilés, from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and representative of the Urban Forest Innovation Lab (ERDF Urban Innovation Actions ), participated in the discussion panel on wood products . Avilés was accompanied by the following young entrepreneurs:

• Rodrigo Mosquera, owner of Tresoficios. Wood, basketry, cabinetmaking, furniture, and decoration . He works under the auspices of Artesanía de Galicia from A Grela, A Coruña, Galicia.
• José Carlos Santana de Sorbus , for the use of forest resources in multifunctional forests from Ibeas de Juarros (Burgos, Castilla y León).
• Antoni Vilanova, agroforestry consultant in Forest and Mycological Crops (Tortosa, Tarragona, Catalonia)

Roberto Rubio, from the Center for Forestry Services and Promotion (CESEFOR) in Castile and León, participated as a guest expert in the roundtable on non-timber products. He was joined by:

• Alejandro Jiménez, founder of Bellota y raíz , works on the transformation of acorns for human consumption from La Adrada (Ávila, Castilla y León).
• Juan Pérez, CEO of Byota Solution SL , dedicated to mycorrhizal plantations and truffle sales in Iniesta, (Cuenca, Castilla La-Mancha).
• Jesús Fernández, from Aromas del encinar , focuses on the collection of wild plants in holm oak groves in the Sierra Oeste of Madrid.

The event will soon be broadcast on the RRN's YouTube channel. All the event material will also be posted on the event's website .

Rural youth

The NRN is focusing its Action Plan these months on the topic of youth , through a series of activities designed to respond to the needs identified through a survey and a meeting of the thematic group of experts specifically established for this purpose.

The main need identified is to ensure the employability of youth in rural areas.

In this context, this was the second in a five-day series of rural entrepreneurship workshops organized by the RRN, specifically aimed at young people. This series has a territorial focus and will cover different economic sectors, each with special relevance in certain regions but of interest to rural areas across the country.

Thus, the next scheduled sessions will focus on the following topics: local businesses (November 10), small industries (November 17) and organic production (November 24).