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This Open Access book explores the contemporary socio-economic challenges that European non-urban areas face, illuminating how collaborative workspaces (CWS) contribute to tackling them in multiple ways. Collaborative workspaces (such as coworking spaces, fab labs, creative hubs, etc.) for freelancers, self-employed, remote workers and start-ups are increasingly becoming a subject of local and regional economic development policies as they are considered important intermediaries that help deliver entrepreneurial development and local innovation agendas. There has also been a rise in CWS in less densely populated communities in rural and peripheral regions across the European Union that face particular challenges such as brain drain, low investment levels, and low levels of entrepreneurship. These non-urban CWS differ in terms of scopes, functions and impacts compared to those in urban centers. The contributions in this volume unpack the development processes of CWS in rural, suburban, remote and peripheral areas, their wider economic, social and community impacts at the local and regional level, as well as at the level of the individual worker and the enterprise. The book brings together contributions from a broad range of scientific disciplines, including social and economic geography, economics, business studies, architecture, planning, gender studies, and management studies.
List of contents
Rural work, rural workers or working in the rural.- Actors and Networks building coworking spaces in rural Austria Motivations, contributions and challenges.- Labouring Together: An Assemblage Perspective on Rural Collaborative Workspaces.- Exploring Hybridity in Non-urban Collaborative Workspaces Case Studies from Alpine Regions.- Coworking as a driver for flexible work in Sweden.- How the Middleground is Leveraged to Foster Cross-Industry Innovation and Drive Socio-Economic Development.- From Vacancy to Vitality: How Meanwhile Spaces Shape Urban-Rural Socio-Economic Dynamics in Oxfordshire, UK.- Unlocking the Potential of Rural Collaborative Workspaces through Short-Term Coworking Experiences.- Exploring women s experiences of wellbeing in rural CWS evidence from Italy and Austria.- Revitalizing Rural Landscapes through Coworking Spaces An Exploration of Narratives and Discourses on Place Identity.- Coworking from (and for) which rural Spatial imaginaries within the project Spazi Generativi in Piedmont, Italy.- Collaborative Workspaces Enhancing Youth Employment in Rural Areas.- Impact of Makerspace on the socio-economic sphere in peripheral areas in Poland.- How to engage with local communities for regional development in rural areas? Participatory formats in outreach hubs.- Rural and peripheral CWS: Some considerations and common conclusions.
About the author
Dr. Vasilis Avdikos
, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Greece.
Prof. Dr. Suntje Schmidt
, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
Dr. Ilaria Mariott
i, Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
Dr. Ignasi Capdevila
, PSB Paris School of Business, France.
Dr. Thilo Lang Leibniz
, Institute for Regional Geography and University of Leipzig, Germany.
Vera Fabinyi
, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Greece.
Summary
This Open Access book explores the contemporary socio-economic challenges that European non-urban areas face, illuminating how collaborative workspaces (CWS) contribute to tackling them in multiple ways. Collaborative workspaces (such as coworking spaces, fab labs, creative hubs, etc.) for freelancers, self-employed, remote workers and start-ups are increasingly becoming a subject of local and regional economic development policies as they are considered important intermediaries that help deliver entrepreneurial development and local innovation agendas. There has also been a rise in CWS in less densely populated communities in rural and peripheral regions across the European Union that face particular challenges such as brain drain, low investment levels, and low levels of entrepreneurship. These non-urban CWS differ in terms of scopes, functions and impacts compared to those in urban centers. The contributions in this volume unpack the development processes of CWS in rural, suburban, remote and peripheral areas, their wider economic, social and community impacts at the local and regional level, as well as at the level of the individual worker and the enterprise. The book brings together contributions from a broad range of scientific disciplines, including social and economic geography, economics, business studies, architecture, planning, gender studies, and management studies.
