El Hueco Oxma – Rural Innovation

A social enterprise used RDP funding to foster social innovation and entrepreneurship in one of the most depopulated regions in Europe. 

Full Project description EN PDF icon (330.91 KB)
Project summary: 

El Hueco Oxma is a Social Enterprise (SE) established in a small village in Soria, Spain, which is one of the most depopulated regions in Europe. Its goal is to foster social innovation and entrepreneurship in rural areas and act as an innovative enterprise incubator.
El Hueco Oxma focuses on creating an environment where rural entrepreneurial and innovative initiatives can flourish. It offers numerous services, such as a coworking area (working area and furniture), a meeting room, consulting (entrepreneurial, legal, financial and technological) and on-demand services (marketing, on-demand software, event planning etc.). Support from the Rural Development Programme of Castilla y Leon, helped the SE to organise a wide range of activities to stimulate interactions among co-workers and external guests, as well as thematic workshops on rural development.

Project results: 

Ten jobs were created in the two years of social entrepreneurship promotion.
Thirty workshops were organised regarding business projects that would build upon and enhance the resources and values of the area.
Ten organic farmers were supported in their transition to organic farming as a business opportunity.