Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.
About Us
We specialise in the development of innovative educational materials and digital resources. These resources aim to address a wide range of target groups including marginalised adult learners, disadvantaged young people not in employment, educations or training (NEETs), older persons, individuals in vulnerable employment, migrant learners and entrepreneurs engaged in the creative sector, with a specific focus on the rural community.
Through the development of e-learning materials and digital resources, The Rural Hub aims to address the current and future training needs of rural residents. We also strive to address the skills gap in the provision of alternative educational materials, innovative approaches and best practices in training and education programmes.
Through our work, we collaborate with peers across Europe to develop, produce and test a range of online learning materials including video lectures, challenge-based learning resources such as online educational escape rooms and WebQuest challenges, interactive workbooks and other digital learning materials.
Our Story
The Rural Hub was set up as an association by a group of education, training and rural development professionals as a response to the impact of the economic crisis on small rural villages and towns in Ireland. Since it was first established in 2012, The Rural Hub has been providing a wide range of training and capacity development programmes to residents and community groups.
In 2017 it was decided that The Rural Hub would be established as a Company Limited by Guarantee to continue its actions and further develop the range of activities and services it provides.
Our Story
The Rural Hub was set up as an association by a group of education, training and rural development professionals as a response to the impact of the economic crisis on small rural villages and towns in Ireland. Since it was first established in 2012, The Rural Hub has been providing a wide range of training and capacity development programmes to residents and community groups.
In 2017 it was decided that The Rural Hub would be established as a Company Limited by Guarantee to continue its actions and further develop the range of activities and services it provides.
The Rural Hub is privately funded and receives no grant income from national funding bodies. This has allowed us to focus our attention on areas where there is an obvious gap in service provision and to conduct business without the constraints that often accompanies grant income. As such, we are a flexible and versatile community development organisation capable of responding to a wide range of needs due to the diverse skills of the staff and volunteers who support these actions.
We have significant experience in the area of community and rural development and have delivered a number of local projects and training programmes to support the social inclusion of disadvantaged rural youth, migrant communities and isolated older residents. We work with these groups, using creative approaches and the testing of digital resources to support greater social cohesion among local communities in County Cavan. We have a developed network of county-wide stakeholders who support our work on a thematic basis.
Our Work In The Community
The Rural Hub is continually developing their programme of Social Mornings and Educational Afternoons to fill the skills gap in the provision of alternative educational in the community. The Educational Afternoon themes are community driven and subject to demand offer introductory sessions such as:
- Building an online business
- Social media training for smartphone, tablet and laptop
- Media production training for young people
- Creative Writing
- Entrepreneurship for young people in the creative industries
- Online Safety & your Digital Footprint
The Social Mornings programme has a community wellbeing focus and subject to demand offers sessions such as:
- Mindfulness and Meditation
- Making positive health choices
- Aromatherapy
- Knit and Knatter
- Crafty Crochet
- Hand Reflexology
- Working with Crystals
- Cultural Exchange and Conversational English
- Storytelling
Keep up to date with the full list of courses and Rural Hub events by following us on Facebook
Current Erasmus+ Projects
As part of our work on a European-level, The Rural Hub participates in Erasmus+ funded initiatives which aim to address issues affecting rural communities; such as a need for increased digital literacy of residents, the challenge of retraining older employees approaching retirement age, the importance of integrating migrant communities in all aspects of social and civic life and the need to support youth entrepreneurship as a means of counteracting high levels of rural depopulation. In response to these issues, The Rural Hub has been successful in securing funding under the Erasmus+ Programme through the following projects:
eProtect - Safety Toolkit for Consumer and Personal Data Protection for the Elderly during Internet use
2020-1-CY01-KA204-065949
OVERCOME - Positive Career Guidance for Low-skilled Adults
SAFE YOUTH - The Science of Sexuality Education and Youth Work
2020-1-CY02-KA205-001795
Rediscovering Your Musical Youth - Digital Skills Training for Seniors - VINYL WARRIORS
2020-1-UK01-KA204-078836
HANGOUT - Digital Native NEET - Pathways to Skill Development
2021-1-CZ01-KA220-ADU-000033382
RURAL'COM - Challenges of Sustainable Transition in Rural Areas - Sustainable Communities as a Solution
2023-1-RO01-KA210-ADU-000150374
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Using Satire and Comedy to Promote Climate Change Awareness - FARCE
2020-1-UK01-KA204-079159
NEET-IDEA - Supporting Digital Native NEETs Back to Mainstream Education, Training and Employment
2020-1-LT01-KA204-077837
PLANet B - WebQuest challenges for young people to develop their knowledge about climate change
2020-1-FR02-KA205-017107
STrengthen the Skills Of NEets - STONE
2020-1-RO01-KA204-079978
RoboGirls - Empowering girls in STEAM through robotics and coding
2020-1-HR01-KA201-077760
An Emotionally-intelligent Approach to teaching Speaking in a forEign Language
Project Number: 2021-1-FR01-KA220-ADU-000026104
Engagement and Active Citizenship for Seniors and Youth in Promoting Europe
Project Number: 101081407
BEST TRANE - BEST practices for TRaining in Adults Non-formal Education
2020-1-FR01-KA202-079751
Generation AI: Teaching kids about Artificial Intelligence - GENERATION-AI
2020-1-NL01-KA201-064712
WIFI – Women In The Film Industry
2020-1-UK01-KA202-079201
FINER - Find your INer powER
2021-1-DE02-KA220-ADU-000029834
Art4Rights - Network for Citizens’ participation in preserving and valorising EU fundamental rights through Participatory Public Art.
Project number.: 101053744
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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