Education for Rural Future

In the period of 2008 - 2009 Regional Development Agency Rychnov nad Kněžnou organized educational courses for municipalities and entrepreneurs from rural areas of Euroregion Glacensis. This project was supported by Programme for Rural Development from European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

In the period of 2008 - 2009 Regional Development Agency Rychnov nad Kněžnou organized educational courses for municipalities and entrepreneurs from rural areas of Euroregion Glacensis named“Education for rural future”. Project took into consideration the current demand for educational activities in the region and was focused on two target groups. On the one hand it was the non-profit sector represented by people in charge of municipalities and other staff, on the other hand it was the business environment and local rural entrepreneurs.

Each of the groups was appointed an individual training course which was held in every region: Náchod, Trutnov, Rychnov nad Kněžnou and Ústí nad Orlicí regions.. Both courses provided a complex information data essential for running local municipalities as well as a successful launch of business plans in a rural area. A series of thematic seminars dealt with spheres of building law, enterprise of municipalities, tax legislation, public contracts and other important topics.

The educating entity was selected in   a public contract – the winner was Chamber of Commerce of Hradec Králové region – Affiliated branch Rychnov nad Kněžnou. A total of 173 people attended the educational activities supported by European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development ( (EAFRD) , out of which 69 passed successfully[2]. At the end of the course there was an evaluation of the course contents, used methods and lecturers. The items were assessed by given points on the scale of 1-5, with 1 representing the best and 5 the worst. Graduates of all three educational blocks obtained a certificate of completion of the course.
 
The realization of the project resulted in 69 people both from public and private sector capable of receiving and using impulses of rural development, namely in business plans. For the representatives of municipalities the courses brought encouragement to actively use and develop the municipality capital and property, in other words follow the public demand for municipality activities and reflect the demand in accord with legal standards.

In addition, it was an incentive for their own business activities that are beneficial for the local inhabitants as well as a guarantee for such activities The entrepreneurs learnt to gain certainty in their business activities, especially with respect to abiding law and accountancy regulations and building law. The condition for passing the course was to commence a business activity in the non-agricultural sphere, particularly in services and little crafts. The result of the project is an improvement of economical independence of rural areas, consolidation of local inhabitants, increase of attractiveness and attendance of the region and inflow of other capital.

The intention of the training course stemmed from Euroregion Glacensis strategy development – area B. Human resources, Priority B.2.1 Development of educational activities including lifelong learning development, Hradec Králové Region development - Priority B. Human resources, Lifelong learning development, education and human resources adaptability, specific objective B.1.1 Preparation for competitive environment is in accord with priorities and objectives of Programme for Rural Development (mediated by SZIF).

The participants highly rated assets from the training courses. Such successful results are certainly motivating factors for similar educational activities organized by RDA.