WINTER 2022 / REAL-LEADERS.COM 61 BUSINESS & INNOVATION 03 INVEST IN PEACE ANDQUIET Portugal, Ireland, and Australia will pay workers to move to the countryside in a bid to revitalize rural communities and boost local economies. Tempting young, talented people away from cities reduces infrastructure stress on cities and revitalizes rural towns. Portugal offers up to $4,800 to workers from the EU to relocate to the countryside. That's enough to cover the annual rent of a small village house. In return, they must agree to stay for at least one year. Ireland will introduce a similar scheme, converting 400 disused rural cinemas and town halls into coworking spaces with high-speed broadband. New South Wales in Australia hopes to attract businesses to rural areas by reimbursing firms up to $7,000 per employee to help cover relocation costs. In Italy, young refugees have breathed life back into several rural communities. They have been welcomed into towns and villages in Sicily after an exodus of local, young workers had left most houses empty, with an aging population living in the remainder. The global movement of people from rural to urban is accelerating, with 55% of the world’s population living in cities. By 2050, that could rise to 70%. Would you move to the countryside to help subsidize a new or existing business? n 02 SUBSIDIZE YOUR HEALTHCARE BY SAVING A FOREST In Borneo, Brazil, and Madagascar, people are getting cheap healthcare in return for saving forests. The innovative scheme is saving lives and cutting deforestation by 70%. So how does it work? US-based organization Health in Harmony listens to communities through a process called “radical listening.” They discovered that local people in Borneo wanted to protect their forest, but when a family member fell sick, logging was a quick source of cash to pay bills. They decided to provide affordable healthcare, with payment accepted as seedlings, manure, handicrafts, or even labor. If locals reduce logging, treatments become even more affordable. A range of organizations that have adopted this approach also offer training in conservation and organic farming. Since 2007, the number of households logging illegally has fallen by 90%, prevented $65 million worth of carbon from being released, and allowed 20,000 hectares of forest to regrow. The benefits haven’t stopped with forest conservation: Infant mortality has fallen by 67%, while TB, malaria, and other tropical diseases have also declined. Health in Harmony works alongside 135,000 indigenous, traditional, and rainforest peoples to protect more than 8.8 million hectares of valuable rainforests. Rainforests are an especially crucial habitat, containing 80% of the world’s documented species. What’s your business solution for protecting forests? The World Economic Forum is the premier international institution for public-private cooperation. It connects communities of leaders around global issues through high-level meetings, research, initiatives, and digital networks. A nonprofit, it is impartial and independent and believes dialogue and cooperation between business, government, and civil society can improve the state of the world. WeForum.org
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