MedLab Rural Development Pilot Description
Pilot Concept and Approach
The Rural Development Pilot is hosted by the Institute of Innovation for Human Wellbeing in the Living Lab of Abla – Rio Nacimiento, in the Spanish province of Almería. Rio Nacimiento Living Lab RioNLL pursues social innovation and development in rural areas. Rural development will help to assure improved levels of wellbeing for people living in rural areas. “Social innovation” refers to an ongoing process in which people are the main engines of change. A result of rural development would be a reduction of migratory flows from rural areas to large urban areas. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) will hopefully stimulate employment, SME development in the area and improve the quality of life of people living in rural areas.
Organisation of the Pilot Action
RioNLL has been promoted by the citizens of Abla, in Almería, as an attempt to explore new mechanisms for social innovation. They have been managing the process, defining its main objectives and identifying key partners, to stimulate local development and improve the quality of life of all people living in the area. In doing so, the people of Abla, have demonstrated leadership in the process of social innovation, and have attracted the interest of other institutions, research groups and private enterprises.Thus, the Rural Development pilot includes some key actors:
• Citizens of Abla (and, more in general, of the whole Rio Nacimiento area)
• The health services of Abla. They offer an in-depth understanding of the health and social issues in the area and the commitment of dedicated personnel.
• The local authorities. They provide infrastructure and mechanisms to facilitate people’s participation.
· I2BC (Institute of Innovation for Human Wellbeing). It is responsible for monitoring and evaluating, as well as developing and making available tools for collaborative work to all other stakeholders.They participate in all phases of the process of development of services and products, as well as in:
- Rural Social Network for Abla people: created and managed by people from Abla.
- Cuidadoras.ning: a social network offering support and advice to professional and familiar carers and care assistants.In the pilot, the following projects and initiatives are being developed:
At National level:
- CISVI: project aiming to tackle down technological barriers for elder people to access e-services offered by the Public Administration, and the implementation of medical tele-monitoring using video-conference to control patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- COPD, in a rural context. Improving the access to services shall attract people to live in rural areas, and therefore activate the economy of the area.
- acTÚa: Workshops with the participation of all key actors to identify their needs and possible solutions through ICTs and other technological tools, in the sphere of rural development.
At international level:
- Europetition: aims at offering a tool to facilitate citizen´s partitipation in democratic processes at local and European level.
- Wec@re: this Project aims at assessing and developing an ICT service called WeCare 2.0, a social network promoting interaction among elder people and other groups such as relatives, friends and neighbors.
Annual Events:
- Annual Meeting of Rural Blogs.
- Annual Abla Rural Party.
- Annual Rural Fair on Innovation.
For further information
Please visit: www.rioNLivinglab.es www.esdiAbla.es http://redpli.i2bc.es
or you can send an email to the people responsible for the MedLab Rural Development pilot:
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