Innovation in rural areas often emerges through adaptation—modifying existing practices, tools, and systems to address evolving challenges in practical and locally meaningful ways.
This resource explores how innovation functions not only as a source of new products or technologies but as a process of continuous improvement within rural businesses, farms, and communities. Rather than focusing solely on high-tech sectors, it highlights examples where innovation is applied to everyday realities: improving farming systems, strengthening local enterprises, and enabling communities to respond to social and environmental change.
By drawing from both research-led and practice-based experiences, the case studies demonstrate the breadth of rural innovation—from incremental improvements in production and service delivery to new ways of organising and collaborating. Across these examples, innovation is positioned as a tool for resilience, efficiency, and sustainable development.
Case studies and supporting resources are available through the NICRE portal.
Authors: Professor Nigel Culkin, Professor of Enterprise & Entrepreneurial
Development, University of Hertfordshire; and Dr Panagiotis Kyriakopoulos, NICRE
Research Fellow, Enterprise Research Centre.
Year: 2024.
