Networking practices involving local small firms: a case of rural innovation in Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy)

Consistent with the Europe 2020 strategy, the next CAP will contribute in the promotion of innovative models for agricultural and rural development. The RD legal framework underlines the need to support social innovation and bolster co-operation in rural areas. The aim of the paper is to investigate which practices could be adopted to nourish networking processes. The focus is on how effective training intervention is in reinforcing network awareness and capabilities among rural actors. In 2011 a Mountain Community carried out a project seeking to bolster the creation of a firm network. It involved a group of local firms in a training programme and focused on relational training in order to improve communication, firm interaction and group management. The research results and the project outcomes reinforce the concept that sustainable rural development policies should also underpin relational skills, in order to increase the chances that the network functions in the long term.