11:00 – 12:00

Welcome and Opening

Moderator: Stephen Quest, Director-General, Joint Research Centre, European Commission.
 • Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President for Demography and Democracy, European Commission.
 • Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
 • Janusz Wojciechowski, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development.
 • Ulrika Landergren, Chair of the Commission for Natural Resources, European Committee of the Regions.
 • Simon Zajc, State Secretary, Ministry for Economic Development and Technology, Republic of Slovenia.

12:00 – 13:00

Session 1 – Science for policy: Challenges for business ecosystems in rural areas and opportunities for innovation

Moderator: Kerstin Rosenow, Head of Unit, European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development.
 • Rural depopulation and places of opportunities (Carlo Lavalle, European Commission, Joint Research Centre).
 • Successful practices promoting innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems in rural areas (Enrique Garcilazo, Deputy Head of the Regional Development and Governance Division at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities).
 • Rural innovation ecosystems for resilience and wellbeing (Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins, National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise, University of Gloucestershire).
 • Entrepreneurship and business models in rural areas (Justin Casimir, RUBIZMO project coordinator, RISE – Research Institutes of Sweden).
 • Smart Villagers. Digitalisation and Social Innovations in Rural Areas (Ariane Sept, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space).

13:00 – 13:20

Break

13:20 – 14:40

Session 2 – The rural startup innovation ecosystem

Moderator: Emilio Corchado, University of Salamanca and CEO of Startup Olé.

 • Innovators’ pitches
  ○ Jan Malmgren, Byutveckling AB. (Veberöd, Sweden).
  ○ Dr Peter Plant, Chairman of the Local Council (Torup Ting); chairman of local LAG Halsnæs-Gribskov. (Torup, Denmark).
  ○ Stefan Niedermoser, Manager LAG regio³ Kitzbühel. Manager Regio-Tech Innovation-Hub and chairman of the association “support of start-ups and founders”. (Kitzbühel, Tyrol/Austria).
  ○ Eliana Zec, General Manager of Vela Vrata LAG for Fisheries (Adriatic Croatia Region).
  ○ Sotiris Tsoukarelis, President of The High Mountains Social Cooperative. (Tzoumerka, Greece).
  ○ Liam Cronin, CEO of RDI HUB. (Killorglin, Ireland).

 • Discussant: Gabriel Rissola, European Commission, Joint Research Centre.

 • Stakeholders’ roundtable
  ○ Sabrina Lucatelli, Vice-Chair of OECD working party on rural development.
  ○ Armando Pires, President of EURASHE – European Association of Institutions in Higher Education.
  ○ Kristina Šermukšnytė – Alešiūnienė, Director, Agrifood Lithuania Digital innovation hub.
  ○ Alessandro Braga, Global head of co-working, Talent Garden coworking platform.
  ○ Anne McHugh, Chief Executive, Donegal Education and Training Board, Ireland.
  ○ Fabrizio Porrino, Co-leader of the Secretariat of Unicorns group.

14:40 – 15:40

Session 3 – Roundtable of elected representatives: how to build a welcoming and enabling environment for startups in rural villages?

Moderator: Alessandro Rainoldi, Head of Unit, European Commission, Joint Research Centre.
 • Mika Riipi, Governor of Lapland, Finland.
 • Tanya Hristova, Mayor of Gabrovo, Bulgaria.
 • Sabrina Ciancone, Mayor of Fontecchio, Italy.
 • Franc Bogovič, MEP, Co-Chair of the European Parliament Intergroup on Rural, Mountainous and Remote Areas & Smart Villages.
 • Eva Kaili, MEP, Member of the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).

15:40 – 16:00

Closing remarks

Moderator: Liliana Pasecinic, Deputy Head of Unit, European Commission, Joint Research Centre.
 • Mario Milouchev, Director, Director-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission.
 • Anna Panagopoulou, Director, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission.
 • Mikel Landabaso, Director, Joint Research Centre, European Commission.