WERT COMMUNITY An initial proposal for a strategy to be discussed in the 1 st WERT project meeting in Bristol, 4 th November 2010

STEP 1.MAKING THE LIST STEP 2. BUILDING THE WERT COMMUNITY AS A NETWORK STEP 3. MANAGING AND ANIMATING THE WERT COMMUNITY STEP 4. ENSURING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE WERT COMMUNITY

Objective: To attract a variety of actors, from the private, public and third sectors, representing business interests, rural tourism interests, rural development interests or offering funding and support to rural businesses and to women in particular; or providing training. STEP 1.MAKING THE LIST Who do we address? A. Women’s’ businesses and collective bodies representing them Individual businesses from lists of collective bodies/public bodies Cooperatives Consortia of enterprises Marketing Clusters Quality agreement associations of businesses (LEADER)

Who do we address? STEP 1.MAKING THE LIST B. Social partners: Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chambers of Tourism, Chambers of Crafts (in some of them there are women’s sections), Farmers’ Unions, other Unions C. Rural Tourism Associations D. Rural Development Agencies (e.g. LEADER LAGs) E. Public bodies that support women’s rights or fund women’s businesses F. Vocational Training organisations that offer rural tourism courses or crafts courses G. Other projects that have established networks on related topics (e.g. e-ruralnet promoting e-learning in rural areas or ECODESTINET and ECOLNET promoting quality assurance of ecotourism businesses) H. European Associations of Rural Tourism (e.g. Gites de France, ECEAT)

Objective: Persuade as many individuals and organisations as possible to join the community STEP 2. BUILDING THE WERT COMMUNITY AS A NETWORK Action Action : A. Invite the actors listed above outlining the benefits they would gain from joining the community B. Offer tangible products: The e-learning course Exchange of experience and peer support among women entrepreneurs from different countries (language problem?) Marketing possibilities Advice possibilities Strengthen and expand existing networks Finding out the client’s view (for sponsors and training providers)

Action STEP 2. BUILDING THE WERT COMMUNITY AS A NETWORK C. Set up a virtual community online, linked to the website of the project. Outline the services offered by the virtual community: e.g. helpdesk for the e-learning course, discussion forum, separate sections (blogs, facebook pages) offering opportunities for national language discussions), virtual meetings etc).

Objective: Promote the active involvement of members, so that they receive the benefits promised and become committed to the community STEP 3. MANAGING AND ANIMATING THE WERT COMMUNITY Action Action : A. Appoint a manager, who would check the practical things (e.g. enrolling, getting passwords etc), keep the virtual space clear of spam and facilitate communication among members B. Introduce quarterly Newsletters, and in-between flash news and bulletins on special topics C. Start discussions centrally and encourage members to start their own topics D. Encourage “peer learning” and “peer support” E. Facilitate the e-learning package via a helpdesk

Objective: To sustain the management of the community in the long term STEP 4. ENSURING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE WERT COMMUNITY Action Action : A. Try to ensure grants to fund the management B. Recruit support “in kind” from organisations that have an interest in the sustainability of the community C. Recruit volunteers to help with separate aspects (e.g. animators of forum discussions, helpdesk staff, solving ICT problems)