The Rural Ticket is an exclusive aid of the Principality of Asturias focused on the creation and start-up of non-agricultural activities in rural areas. This innovative measure, with an allocation of €25,000, is intended for all those entrepreneurs who want to create a company, within one of the eleven territories of the LAGs of the Asturian region. This grant is compatible with the ‘Aid for agricultural industries’ and ‘Aid for investment in the creation and development of non-agricultural activities’ of the LEADER program. With this aid, it has been possible to work on the future of the rural environment, fight against depopulation and favor the diversification of rural territories. The Rural Ticket has allowed the creation of employment, and that small business initiatives, become a reality.
Leader / Speaker
Juan Antonio Lázaro Menéndez, Graduate in Geography and Master in Local Development by the University of Oviedo, currently Manager of ‘Bajo Nalón’, a Rural Development Group in Asturias. He worked in the Centre for Cooperation and Territorial Development of the University of Oviedo as a researcher and in the Local Development Agency of the City Council of Gijón as coordinator of the Tourist Information Service.
Coordinator of different INTERREG programmes related to Atlantic salmon, expert in management of sport fishing and rural development, collaborates with different media assiduously with reports and publications.
Collaborator and author of several studies on production and marketing of agricultural products, the impact of leisure activities in rural areas and the importance of Participatory Local Development in the management of European funds, focuses his work on harmonizing the new CAP 2021-27, the productive system of rural Asturias.
Facilitator
Marta Vergara Forés is a young lawyer and member of the host Asturian Network for Rural Development (READER), in charge of the Legal and International Department. Marta has studied a Law Degree by the University of Oviedo and also two Master’s Degrees (Master’s Degree for Access to the Legal Profession and Master’s Degree in Legal Protection of Vulnerable People and Groups), both by this same University too. She works on a daily basis with cooperation projects on rural development and strengthening the voice of rural communities, as well as legal assistance in different projects, at European and international level.