The 13th OECD Rural Development Conference was held in Cavan, Ireland on 28-30 September 2022 under the theme "Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places". These are the presentations from the Pre-conference session "The Role of Social Economy and Social Innovation in Rural Communities". For more information visit https://www.oecd.org/rural/rural-development-conference/.

1. Ana Gómez Garcés
Cives Mundi Project Coordinator
ana@civesmundi.es
Building Sustainable,
Resilient and Thriving Rural
Places

2. Starts
Cives Mundi is a non-profit
organisation (NGO) funded in
1987 in Soria (Spain).
Topics: rural development, food
security, climate change,
governance, etc. all under a
gender, environmental
sustainability and HHRR based
approach.
01

3. Starts
SORIA. The context
Region of Soria: most depopulated geographical province in
Spain (more than 90 percent of the province is below 8.6
inhabitants/km2)
In the previous economical crisis, in 2008, we found ourselves
in a context of economic crisis, which affected the whole
country, but the highest rates of youth unemployment and
even more increasing rates of depopulation.
So in this context, in 2011 Cives Mundi began to turn the
experience gained in international development by promoting
that development model in its own region.
01

4. Starts
How?
Promoting social innovation and social
entrepreneurship with a focus on rural and
sparsely populated areas, understanding that
entrepreneurship and social innovation can be
tools that contribute to alleviate the process of
depopulation by fixing population in these areas
and retaining and attracting talent to them.
01
So in 2011 El Hueco was created

5. el hueco
El Hueco started as a co-working and multifunctional
space and social-entrepreneruship incubator in Soria.
It aims at creating a favourable environment for the
creation and development of social innovation and
social enterprises, particularly in sparsely populated
areas (SPAs), such as Soria.
02

6. A social innovation ecosystem
El Hueco counts an important network of partners and
supporters, including universities, public and private
institutions, traditional / social enterprises and
entrepreneurs, financial institutions, investors and
mentors.
All these actors build up the ecosystem of El Hueco.
>> An ecosystem aiming at stimulating, fostering,
supporting and enabling social innovation initiatives
and social entrepreneurship.
02

7. Social innovation
03
When we talk about social innovation, we talk
about projects, programs, but also about
methodologies, processes, forms of
governance, which efficiently and effectively
combine the elements and resources existing
in the territory to contribute to solving social
problems in an innovative, sustainable and
inclusive way.

8. Social entrepreneurship
03
For the European Commission, a social enterprise
is an enterprise:
- whose primary objective is to have a social
impact rather than to generate profits for owners
and shareholders,
- that uses its surpluses primarily to achieve these
social objectives,
- that is managed by social entrepreneurs in a
responsible, transparent and innovative manner,
in particular through the involvement of
employees, customers and all those affected by
its activity.

9. Projects
04
1. Interreg Europe SOCENT SPAs. Social Entrepreneruship in
Sparsely Populated areas

10. 2. El Hueco Caribe Exchanges.
To promote social entrepreneurship
among vulnerable youth and non-
profit organizations in the Dominican
Republic and Haiti and to foster the
exchange of experiences between
young entrepreneurs and
organizations in both countries.
Projects
04

11. Projects
04
3. G100. Nueva Ruralidad
(New rurality)
A group of 50 men and 50 women
with a relationship with rural areas
and with the most diverse
backgrounds, were grouped into 14
work areas such as Urban planning
and housing; Education and culture;
Mobility; Agricultural and forestry
economy; Governance; Internet and
communication; Social innovation;
… with the objective of
create innovative prototypes in
each of these areas that can be
replicated in rural environments.

12. 4. Promotion and implementation of social innovation
ecosystems in rural areas:
Projects
04 El Hueco Oxma
Create an optimal ecosystem for the
development and promotion of
entrepreneurship and social
innovation, but in this case in a rural
area, inspiring and showing the
endogenous development
opportunities that exist in these
areas.

13. 4. Promotion and implementation of social innovation
ecosystems in rural areas:
Projects
05
El Comunal
2 years program to create 3 rural
innovation ecosystems in Navarra
“Generating social innovation in
rural areas”

14. The process:
El Comunal
05 Exhaustive study on the reality of the territory
and territorial inequalities in Navarra
+
G100. New rurality project. Social Innovation
prototypes
The Government of Navarra together with El
Hueco developed a document with 14
initiatives to correct these territorial
inequalities. Among these initiatives was
the Creation of an Ecosystem of Social
Innovation in rural areas: El Comunal
Navarra.

15. El Comunal
05 -Minimum critical mass capable of
activating the initiatives and
proposals.
-A municipal or county government
strongly involved in innovation
processes, in its social sphere and in
the project.
- A minimally structured social fabric
capable of providing social support for
the projects.
Where? Places that meet these conditions:

16. El Comunal
05
Main Activities:

17. El Comunal
05
Main Activities:
1. CONTACTS & MAP OF AGENTS (M 1)
Compilation of public and private agents in
the area of influence of the project
that, a priori, can be part of the new
ecosystem for the promotion of social
innovation.
Visits in situ and meetings with these
agents.
Elaboration of a doc that includes the most
relevant aspects and resources with
which each entity can participate in the
future ecosystem.

18. El Comunal
05
Main Activities: 2. MEETINGS | ECOSYSTEM (M 2, 3 and 4)
Meetings with the local ecosystem's
promoters to establish the commitments of
each person/entity in its collaboration in the
project.
Social entrepreneurs, civil society entities
rooted in the territory: foundations, NGOs,
companies, academics, retirees, investors,
financial institutions, etc.
Public entities: city councils, county councils,
autonomous communities.
Other entities such as: museums, cultural
centers, etc.

19. El Comunal
05
Main Activities:
3. EL HUECO EXPERIENCE (M 5)
“Immersion" days in which participants will
have the opportunity to learn how El
Hueco works, who is part of its
ecosystem, its main projects and also to
learn about the most important social
enterprises in the ecosystem, their
promoters and the business models they
develop.

20. El Comunal
05
Main Activities:
4. OPEN SPACE (M 6)
Celebration of the opening day of the
coworking space, with an "open space"
methodology. This is a group dynamic
with all persons interested in becoming
part of the community of social
entrepreneurs in the region aimed at
facilitating conversations and exchanging
ideas around challenges, opportunities,
needs and interests that exists in the
territory.
IS THE POINT AT WHICH WE BEGIN TO
DEFINE THE ECOSYSTEM'S OWN
CHARACTER.

21. El Comunal
05
Main Activities:
5. PROTOTYPING (M 8, 9 Y 10)
This process has the objective of landing
ideas into project prototypes. It is a creative
technique that allows to generate and
develop tangible proposals on an idea.
Methodology Design Thinking:
- empathize
- define
- think up
- prototype
- test

22. El Comunal
05
Main Activities: 6. EL HUECO STARTER (M 11)
El Hueco Starter is a contest aimed at social
entrepreneurs or social enterprises who
have business ideas that can contribute
to solve social needs and problems in the
region.
During a weekend, social entrepreneurs work
with mentors from different fields to
shape and improve their idea of
entrepreneurship.
At the end of the weekend, the most
promising entrepreneurs are chosen and
receive different prizes (incubation, cash
support, creative support for web and
RRSS, etc.).
13 ideas registered last edition

23. El Comunal
05
Main Activities: 7. INCUBATION PROCESS (M 12, 13, 14 and
15)
Incubation process for social entrepreneurs
selected in the El Hueco Starter contest (11
steps in 4 months) with particular emphasis
on the business models of each of them to
move forward.
Permanent advice and tutoring of the
incubated by experts and with exclusive
material created ad hoc.
Face to face and online meetings with the
selected entrepreneurs to follow up and plan
the business plan.

24. El Comunal
05
Main Activities: 8. ROUND OF INVESTORS (M 15)
Participation of social entrepreneurs of the
new ecosystem in a round of investors in
which investment fund managers, impact
investors, financial institutions, bussines
angels etc. take part with the objective of
channeling investment into these social
enterprises.
Entrepreneurs have five minutes to present
their idea, after which they will be asked
questions by investors

25. El Comunal
05
Main Activities: 9. PROTOTYPED II ( M 16, 17 and 18)
10. EL HUECO STARTER II (M 19)
11. INCUBATION II (M 20, 21, 22 AND 23)
12. ROUND OF INVESTORS (M 24)
PROGRAMME EVALUATION

26. El Comunal
05
BAKU BARRIKUPEL
Design and manufacture
decorative and functional
elements applying eco-
design throughout the
process by reusing oak from
wine barrels. And all this, in
a rural environment.

27. El Comunal
05

28. Other projects
6
5. G100. Rural Proofing.
A group of 50 men and 50 women with a
relationship with rural areas and with the
most diverse backgrounds (agriculture,
livestock, fishing and forestry, public
administrations, governance, social and health
sector, schools, etc.), were grouped into 14
work areas such as Urban planning and
housing; Education and culture; Mobility;
Agricultural and forestry economy;
Governance; Internet and communication;
Social innovation; … with the objective of
create a Rural Proofing mechanism for the
review of legislation and policies from a rural
perspective.

29. 6. G30. La Rioja. 30 young people between 18 and 35
years will work together with the objective of
building social innovation prototypes capable of solving
specific needs of the territory in an effective, efficient
and sustainable way.
4 strategic areas:
1. Social welfare and personal autonomy;
2. Social fabric, new businesses, digital
nomads and employability;
3. Connectivity, mobility, governance and
citizenship;
4. Housing, natural environment and energy
transition.
Other projects
06

30. 7. Erasmus Plus E-makers.Improve the competencies
of young workers in digital-based social/environmental
entrepreneurship by increasing the availability of innovative
and high quality training materials, both formal and non-
formal.
Other projects
06

31. 8. Erasmus Plus Co-Roots . The goal of the project
is to strengthen the capacity of citizens and local
organisations to participate in the creation of
sustainable development strategies, aimed at
strengthening the economic and environmental
resilience of rural territories.
To this end, CoRoots creates spaces for multidisciplinary
co-learning through activities for the exchange of
good practices in Social Innovation and Citizen
Participation in rural environments in Spain, Portugal
and Austria
Other projects
06

32. Thank you for your attention
For more information:
ana@civesmundi.es
www.civesmundi.es
www.elhueco.org
And you can find and follow us on social networks