2025乡村创新路径_人_地_创意的联结研究报告_81页_2mb

OECD Rural Innovation Pathways Summary

Core Content

This document, Rural Innovation Pathways: Connecting People, Places and Ideas, outlines the importance of innovation in rural regions and provides a policy toolkit to support its development. It highlights that rural innovation is not a secondary concern but a strategic capability that can enhance resilience and productivity in the face of global megatrends.

Main Points

1. Rural Innovation is Strategic

• Rural regions are not waiting for external support; they are actively innovating to address local challenges.
• Rural innovation includes:
  • Incremental process improvements
  • Community-based initiatives
  • Niche market innovations
  • Adaptive service delivery models
• These forms of innovation are often overlooked by mainstream mechanisms that focus on formal R&D and patents.

2. Innovation Drives Resilience and Competitiveness

• Innovation in rural areas can help overcome challenges such as remoteness, thin markets, and narrow economic bases.
• It supports the development of public services, renewable energy, agriculture, and sustainable tourism.
• Rural areas can become laboratories for environmental and digital transitions, contributing to national economic resilience.

3. Technology is a Key Enabler

• Technology can enhance productivity, expand market access, and improve service delivery in rural regions.
• Examples include:
  • Automation and AI to address labour shortages and boost efficiency
  • Drone-based delivery and virtual work to reduce trade costs and enable talent mobility
  • Telemedicine and remote education to improve access to essential services
• Rural areas can benefit from integrating technology into public services and fostering digital skills.

4. Barriers to Rural Innovation

• Limited access to public services, digital infrastructure, and skills are major barriers.
• Only one-third of rural households have access to high-speed broadband.
• Skills availability and digital infrastructure are cited as the top barriers to innovation, with 33% and 30% of survey respondents respectively.
• Limited finance and lack of business support also pose challenges.

5. Policy Toolkit: Six Pillars for Rural Innovation

• The report proposes six pillars to support rural innovation:
  1. Establish preconditions for innovation – Address skills, digital infrastructure, and service access gaps.
  2. Design for rural innovators – Tailor policies to support rural entrepreneurs and small businesses.
  3. Build networks and linkages – Encourage collaboration with urban and regional partners.
  4. Experiment for local solutions – Support local testing and scaling of innovations through regulatory sandboxes and living labs.
  5. Facilitate with simplified and coordinated support – Streamline access to government services and reduce administrative burdens.
  6. Measure and learn with wide rural data access – Improve data collection and use to inform policy and support innovation.

Key Information

• Demographic Trends: Over 40% of remote rural regions in the OECD have seen population decline since 2001, impacting the labour market and public services.
• Economic Trends: Rural regions show higher GDP per capita growth in 16/29 countries, suggesting a shift towards more capital and technology-intensive economies.
• Case Studies: The report includes five national case studies from Canada, Japan, Scotland (UK), Switzerland, and the United States, offering insights into successful rural innovation initiatives.
• Global Survey: A survey of 23 OECD countries informed the policy toolkit and highlighted common challenges and opportunities.

Conclusion

The report calls for a more inclusive and place-sensitive approach to rural innovation, emphasizing the need for policies that recognize the unique characteristics of rural areas. It underscores that innovation in rural regions is a vital component of regional and national resilience, and that technology, when properly supported, can be a transformative force.

References

• OECD (2025), Rural Innovation Pathways: Connecting People, Places and Ideas, OECD Publishing, Paris.
• Reinforcing Rural Resilience (2025), OECD.
• Özgüzel, Luca and Wei (2023), Virtual Work and Rural Labour Mobility.

Notes

• The document is part of the OECD Enhancing Rural Innovation project.
• It was approved by the Regional Development Policy Committee on 9 April 2024.
• The report is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.