Scope and Purpose
This page is intended as a resource for folks who are interested in learning about the rural dimensions and possibilities for coworking, whether from a research perspective or that of potential space catalyst or coworker. We have sections to aggregate research,on rural coworking spaces and a collection of links to publications where rural coworking or topics of interest to rural coworking practitioners are being discussed.
Research
Coworking in Big Cities vs. Small Towns - results from the 2011 Global Coworking Survey at deskmag
Preconditions for Sustainable Rural Coworking Spaces in Southwest Finland: Field Study England - Case Study Mietoinen. Master's thesis by Juha Heikkilä
Rural Spaces
Canada / USA
e=mc2 The Centre for Business Excellence - Canmore, AB Canada
The Candy Factory - Lancaster, PA USA - Central PA
TMC Coworkspace - Plymouth, IN USA
JumpStart Community - Blacksburg, VA USA
AltamontCowork - Tracy, CA USA
Veel Hoeden - Pella, IA USA
La Venture Station - La Grange, KY USA
Spark Plaza - Johnson City, TN USA
The Tink Tank - Asheville, NC USA
Mojo Coworking - Asheville, NC USA
Business Success Unlimited - Three Rivers, MI, USA
Thomas Technology Group - Camp Hill, PA USA
Cowork Penticton, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
The Shop - Helena, MT USA
HardScrabble Solutions, Presque Isle, ME USA
Iron Clad Coworking - Wamego, KS USA
Europe
Ammersee Denkerhaus - Diessen, Bavaria GERMANY
Coworkerei - Tegernsee, Bavaria GERMANY
Coworking Königstein, 61462 Königstein, GERMANY
CREARIUM - Monzón, Huesca, SPAIN
Devon Work Hubs - Devon, UK
First Floor - Brescia/Lago di Garda, ITALY
Kamer52 - Oosterhout, North Brabant, NETHERLANDS
Rayaworx - Santanyí (Mallorca), SPAIN
weXelwirken Härten – Kusterdingen, GERMANY
Lo Gal Coworking Narbonne (Southern France rural coworking Space near Narbonne)
Publications
How To Start A Coworking Space In Your Small Town - By Joel Bennett, published by Becky McCray in Small Biz Survival
Everything Solid Melts Into Jelly: Coworking In Rural England - by Sophie Garrett in Shareable
Cultivating Rural Coworking - by Molly Malone at OpenDesks
Coworking to Quick-Start Rural Innovation by Mark Kidd in The Daily Yonder
Coworking: An economic development idea for rural America? - By Jessica Stillman on Gigaom
Can coworking spaces thrive in small urban areas? - by Holly Landau on Telesaur
How to Start a Rural Coworking Community - By Beth Buczynski on Shareable
Next Steps and Ideas
- We could use a working definition of "rural." There are many conflicting classification systems to draw on. Is there one system where folks in the US could plug in the name of their town and see a classification (urban, exurban, metropolitan, micropolitan, rural, etc.), just to have a point of reference?
- Rural-specific ideas or best practices for space owners and catalysts
