European Rural Demographic Strategies: Foreshadowing Post-Lisbon Rural Development Policy?
The European Commission’s Long-term Vision for Rural Areas, published in June 2021 and building on a previous report on the Impact of Demographic Change and a Green Paper on Ageing, underlines the importance of population trends as a key issue for EU rural policy. The increasing concern about demogr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | World |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/3/4/53 |
| _version_ | 1797454926618558464 |
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| author | Thomas Dax Andrew Copus |
| author_facet | Thomas Dax Andrew Copus |
| author_sort | Thomas Dax |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The European Commission’s Long-term Vision for Rural Areas, published in June 2021 and building on a previous report on the Impact of Demographic Change and a Green Paper on Ageing, underlines the importance of population trends as a key issue for EU rural policy. The increasing concern about demographic issues, especially in rural Europe, has been accompanied, and in some cases preceded, by the publication of national population strategies. This renewed interest within the European policy community probably has roots in politics rather than new research or fresh evidence. Rural depopulation is not a new phenomenon, nor is it a new research topic. Nevertheless, to better understand this renewed interest, it is instructive to review recent scholarship and consider whether there is any evidence that the processes and systems of rural and regional (demographic) development are delivering new kinds of challenges, requiring refreshed policy approaches. Having established this context, we present a comparative review of a selection of national strategies, identifying shifting perspectives on goals, the instruments proposed, and implied intervention logics. Arguably, cumulative evidence points to an incremental shift of the policy discourse away from neoliberal, Lisbon-inspired visions of rural competitiveness and cost-effectiveness and towards a quest for rural well-being, rights to basic services, and more (spatially) inclusive rural development. This increasing emphasis on qualitative change may be symptomatic of a wider shift in the zeitgeist of rural policy, reflecting a number of globalised trends, including an awareness of the potentials and limitations associated with changing patterns of inter and intra-regional mobility. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:44:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c25cb99e70d744f8a35450cc6156687d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-4060 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:44:11Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | World |
| spelling | doaj.art-c25cb99e70d744f8a35450cc6156687d2023-11-24T18:44:32ZengMDPI AGWorld2673-40602022-11-013493895610.3390/world3040053European Rural Demographic Strategies: Foreshadowing Post-Lisbon Rural Development Policy?Thomas Dax0Andrew Copus1Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research, 1030 Vienna, AustriaFaculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies, Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland, 80100 Joensuu, FinlandThe European Commission’s Long-term Vision for Rural Areas, published in June 2021 and building on a previous report on the Impact of Demographic Change and a Green Paper on Ageing, underlines the importance of population trends as a key issue for EU rural policy. The increasing concern about demographic issues, especially in rural Europe, has been accompanied, and in some cases preceded, by the publication of national population strategies. This renewed interest within the European policy community probably has roots in politics rather than new research or fresh evidence. Rural depopulation is not a new phenomenon, nor is it a new research topic. Nevertheless, to better understand this renewed interest, it is instructive to review recent scholarship and consider whether there is any evidence that the processes and systems of rural and regional (demographic) development are delivering new kinds of challenges, requiring refreshed policy approaches. Having established this context, we present a comparative review of a selection of national strategies, identifying shifting perspectives on goals, the instruments proposed, and implied intervention logics. Arguably, cumulative evidence points to an incremental shift of the policy discourse away from neoliberal, Lisbon-inspired visions of rural competitiveness and cost-effectiveness and towards a quest for rural well-being, rights to basic services, and more (spatially) inclusive rural development. This increasing emphasis on qualitative change may be symptomatic of a wider shift in the zeitgeist of rural policy, reflecting a number of globalised trends, including an awareness of the potentials and limitations associated with changing patterns of inter and intra-regional mobility.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/3/4/53shrinking regionsrural developmentrural policydemographic trendslocal developmentintervention logic |
| spellingShingle | Thomas Dax Andrew Copus European Rural Demographic Strategies: Foreshadowing Post-Lisbon Rural Development Policy? World shrinking regions rural development rural policy demographic trends local development intervention logic |
| title | European Rural Demographic Strategies: Foreshadowing Post-Lisbon Rural Development Policy? |
| title_full | European Rural Demographic Strategies: Foreshadowing Post-Lisbon Rural Development Policy? |
| title_fullStr | European Rural Demographic Strategies: Foreshadowing Post-Lisbon Rural Development Policy? |
| title_full_unstemmed | European Rural Demographic Strategies: Foreshadowing Post-Lisbon Rural Development Policy? |
| title_short | European Rural Demographic Strategies: Foreshadowing Post-Lisbon Rural Development Policy? |
| title_sort | european rural demographic strategies foreshadowing post lisbon rural development policy |
| topic | shrinking regions rural development rural policy demographic trends local development intervention logic |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/3/4/53 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT thomasdax europeanruraldemographicstrategiesforeshadowingpostlisbonruraldevelopmentpolicy AT andrewcopus europeanruraldemographicstrategiesforeshadowingpostlisbonruraldevelopmentpolicy |