The Role of Virtual Collaborative Communities in Sustaining Rural Micro-Business Resilience

Abstract

Across the world we are seeing the adverse impact of climate change including drought, floods, bushfires, and storms. Businesses in these areas are frequently heavily affected and struggle to survive in the face of reduced output, loss of vital infrastructure, and challenges to their operation. Evidence from the literature suggests that entrepreneurship may act as an antidote for communities facing social, economic, and climate challenges. Additionally, digital technology may provide the opportunity for businesses and organizations in these locations to harness digital affordances, establish new virtual communities of practice, and trial new entrepreneurial activities and innovative business opportunities. Using examples from the Australian context, this chapter explores how virtual collaborative communities can operate as digital entrepreneurial ecosystems to support the development, growth, and resilience of regional and rural micro-businesses in response to the adverse impacts of globalization and climate change.