Summary:

In the 21st century, a social and economic development has obtained a new character and a new pace, because new properties of the surroundings have determined the unusual so far increase of the knowledge value. The knowledge becomes the main instrument for carrying out changes. Therefore, it is worth to take care of its proper management not only in the conditions of an enterprise, which carries out its business aims but also in the process of a long-lasting, laborious formation of potential of a particular region or area. The work herein constitutes a presentation of key ideas which accompany the project formation titled "Knowledge management in the process of building competitiveness and innovativeness of rural areas pursuant to the rules of the sustainable development - an empiric verification on the example of the Małopoksie voivodeship". The research problem which has been undertaken is as follows: Do the worked out solutions in relation to the concept of knowledge management may become a stimuli for the development process which takes place on rural areas?