WLP289: Bringing Together the Remote and Rural Communities
Today’s episode explores the impact of remote work on rural communities, and the mutual benefits for communities and collaborators alike - when entrepreneurs from different backgrounds get to share their insights and experiences.
Too often, remote work is seen as a privilege of the professional elite knowledge worker, and an alternative to city commuting. But it has the potential to offer so much more, and it’s great to reflect on the bigger picture, and the social impact of remote work - not just on those carrying it out, but on the wider communities which it impacts.
Carlos Jonay Suarez and Elsa Rodriguez have been working to spread the word in Spain’s Canary Islands for years, and recently came together to launch the ‘Pueblos Remotos’ project. This was initially piloted in Tenerife during the summer, which inspired the follow-up Fuerteventura, which they were gearing up for when Pilar conducted this interview. Attitudes to remote work have shifted considerably in Spain during the pandemic period, but it’s fair to say they were starting from a long way behind some other countries on this front. Changes are very exciting, across the peninsula and beyond, and Pueblos Remotos offers us a new perspective on the many intersecting benefits.
5.56 Carlos Jonay Suarez and Elsa Rodriguez: Pueblos Remotos.
Pueblos Remotos was initiated to showcase rural areas away from the beaten track of typical tourist destinations, through bringing remote workers into contact with local entrepreneurs for 3 week stays. During this time the visitors experience beautiful locations and environments, while also learning about and volunteering with local sustainable businesses. Mixing people and connecting them in this way synergises new ideas and creativity, and everyone benefits.
Carlos Jonay Suarez
In the summer, the Tenerife event took place in a town with an authentic rural flavour, and a physical environment spanning from the beach to the mountains in true Canarian style. The local participants included a beekeeper, a restaurant, an eco food store, and a vineyard, who entertained the 10 international remote workers (all Spanish speakers), while introducing them to new business models and examples.
Small villages in Spain have suffered extensively from urban migration in recent decades, and remote work is the key to promoting sustainable regeneration without changing the character of the communities and traditional lifestyles. The Canary Islands offer a diversity of landscapes and settlement sizes in a compact area, and have so much more to offer than traditional tourism - while at the same time raising the profile of local businesses in need of different skills and insights.
Remote workers in turn benefit from the beautiful environments and lower cost of living, associated with less developed areas away from the big cities.
When local entrepreneurs are empowered rather than displaced, the younger generations are inspired to stay in their communities and build a life for themselves there, instead of displacing to the cities where work was traditionally to be found.
And when travelers experience something beyond the beach and the all-inclusive resort, lasting connections and friendships are created.
At the time of writing Carlos and Elsa were ramping up to the second project in Antigua, Fuerteventura - culturally one of the most tourism-oriented of the Canary Islands, while much less is known about their rural industries and activities - which include award-winning goat's cheese production, aloe vera, and veterinary expertise. Elsa was born on Fuerteventura, but grew up on Tenerife, so there is a beautiful circularity in bringing this initiative back to this island, sharing all it has to offer with a new international cohort.
Elsa Rodriguez
Elsa and Carlos’ project plans include migrating the benefits to the other islands in the Canaries initially, but they are also considering expanding to the mainland, and even South America. The business model and its potential benefits are so manifest, it’s easy to see how it could be replicated and expanded in different locations.
And for remote workers, lucky enough to be able to live and work anywhere, a standout experience will always be one which offers something you cannot easily find while travelling independently, or in typical tourist locations: a real connection with a completely different way of living. (If you are tempted to join them in future, you can enter the selection process at pueblosremotos.com.)
And there are many more areas which are far more rural, which might benefit from the programme one day, but where bringing even the infrastructure necessary for remote work will take time: respecting the pace of historical lives and lifestyles while breathing new life into pueblos, without the damaging impact of gentrification and changing the demographics of traditional areas.
It all depends on building the networks, the web of regional collaborators, who know the local areas and businesses in each area. These include NGOs, community organisations, and various entrepreneurs, as well as tourism and sustainability oriented bodies, as Pueblos Remotos continue their work to converge the remote and rural work and lifestyles.
Carlos would rather network with you in person than online, but meanwhile can be found on LinkedIn and also (in Spanish) SinOficina, and LinkedIn is also the best place to find Elsa - as well as keeping up with all the news and information on the main Pueblos Remotos site.
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