Good Practice - Project
Connecting rural entrepreneurs in Skåne, Sweden, to the wider innovation ecosystem
An initiative bridging rural-urban innovation gaps by providing personalised support, targeted matchmaking and collaborative arenas, helping rural entrepreneurs access expertise and partners.
Summary
The Innovation Centre for Rural Development in east Skåne was created after a 2015 study revealed that rural entrepreneurs felt disconnected from the mainly urban innovation system. Acting as a long-term, neutral intermediary, the Centre bridges this gap by offering tailored one-to-one support, targeted matchmaking, idea camps and thematic workshops, while creating new collaboration arenas with universities, hubs and farmer organisations.
Working with local municipalities and regional and national partners, it helps rural founders access expertise, funding paths and innovation networks without leaving their communities. Since 2015, the Centre has supported hundreds of entrepreneurs, delivered more than 100 events and strengthened cooperation across the ecosystem, making rural innovation more visible, connected and accessible.
Results
Between March 2015 and October 2025, the Centre has operated as a permanent intermediary, building bridges between rural founders and the regional innovation system while delivering measurable activity and reach. Results include:
- Entrepreneur support: almost 300 rural entrepreneurs have received one-to-one business advice, and over 200 targeted matchmaking sessions linked them with universities, hubs, funders and public programmes;
- Ecosystem activity and reach: the Centre has run 113 events (innovation camps, thematic workshops and ‘Eat lunch with a researcher’), engaging more than 2 600 individual participants and seeding collaborations and pilots;
- Trusted, long-term role: by positioning itself as a permanent partner rather than a project, the Centre has strengthened legitimacy with rural entrepreneurs and urban institutions and reduced the perceived distance between them;
- Geographic expansion: two additional municipalities have expressed interest in joining, extending the model towards central Skåne;
- Practice change: regular joint ventures and co-delivery with universities and intermediaries have normalised cooperation and accelerated practical follow-ups (e.g. pilots on digital/AI use in farming).
Promoter
Innovation Centre for Rural Development (Innovationscenter för landsbygden), non-for-profit organisation
Funding
Budget: EUR 110 000 annually
Sources:
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), 2015
- Local Banking Foundation, 2015
- LEADER programme, under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), 2016-2023
- Reginal Council of Skåne, 2023-2026
- Local Banking Foundation, 2024-2026
Resources
Documents
Context
In south-east Skåne, many entrepreneurs lack recognition and access to the formal innovation system. The barrier is not distance, but perceived accessibility and culture: rural founders felt unseen; urban services felt remote.
The Centre addresses this with proximity, trust-building and tailored support, so local innovators can find the right expertise, funding paths and partners while keeping ownership of their ideas. Over time, the intention is to reduce dependency by empowering local actors to operate independently within the wider ecosystem.
The Centre works locally with the municipalities of Sjöbo, Tomelilla, Ystad and Simrishamn, regionally with the public administration of Skåne, and contributes to national dialogue – building an ecosystem where rural and urban actors co-create on equal terms.
Objectives
- Bridge the gap between rural entrepreneurs’ needs and the regional/national support offer;
- Act as an active intermediary that connects, rather than replaces, existing support structures;
- Build trust, proximity and personalised support so rural actors feel seen, understood and equipped;
- Create joint ventures and arenas that link rural SMEs with universities, hubs and policy actors.
Activities, key actors, and timeline
Since 2015, the Centre has acted as a permanent intermediary rather than a time-limited project. Work starts with intake and matchmaking: rural founders approach the Centre (or are referred by municipalities), which maps the challenge and connects them to the right person or programme in the regional/national system (researchers, incubators, funders, public agencies). Founders then receive one-to-one coaching and light-touch project support so they can move from idea to pilot without leaving their community.
To generate ideas and knowledge flow, the team runs innovation camps and thematic workshops, as well as informal meet-ups, such as ‘Eat lunch with a researcher’, where entrepreneurs test questions with academics. To fill system gaps, the Centre convenes new collaboration arenas – for example, ‘Grow More’ meetings with the agricultural university and farmer organisations – and co-produces meta-studies (e.g. digital/AI in agriculture) with green cluster networks.
Delivery is multi-level: locally with the municipalities of Sjöbo, Tomelilla, Ystad and Simrishamn; regionally with Skåne and innovation intermediaries; nationally with universities and networks. Throughout, the Centre’s role is to connect, not replace existing structures, build trust and proximity, and hand back ownership to rural actors so they can operate more independently over time.
Success factors/lessons learnt
- Start from a clear need: a 2015 pre-study validated the rural-urban gap and guided a tailor-made organisational model;
- Be the connector, not the project: a neutral, long-term intermediary builds trust, avoids duplication and keeps partners engaged;
- Co-design and co-deliver: joint ventures with universities and support actors keep the offer relevant and attractive on both sides;
- Proximity matters: local presence and personalised support make the system feel accessible to rural entrepreneurs;
- Keep evolving the tools: develop formats and studies with partners (local-regional-national) and adapt them as needs change;
- Replicability: the ‘pre-study → intermediary hub → joint arenas’ model can be transferred to other regions with similar rural–urban gaps.
Contacts
Helena Kurki, helena.kurki@sjobo.se, +46 705 930243