Search results for "Rural management"
showing 7 items of 7 documents
How do rural areas profile in the futures dreams by the Finnish youth?
2016
Abstract Demographic trends do not give much hope for rural regions in developed economies. Many studies prescribe rural futures as manifestations of consumption of the countryside by an urban majority. However, many of these macro-images and typologies lack explicit micro-agency. This article illustrates what are the expectations from personal futures in rural areas, where specifically and by whom. The respondents of a national survey represented the Finnish youth, who described their dream future in 2030 in terms of livelihood, accommodation and lifestyle recipe. Analysis of the dreams resulted in distinct regional profiles. Urban-adjacent rural areas are profiled as places for a cosy lif…
The leader Programme and the Rise of Rural Development in Spain
2000
In many ways, LEADER (Liaisons Entre Actions de Developpement de l'Economie Rurale) has been a very significant intervention in Spain. Prior to LEADER, rural development policy was almost completely unknown and, for this reason alone, LEADER represented a new force in rural affairs. The invitation to form territorial collaborations was also novel and local actors were quick to perceive it as an important political tool with which to tackle both the problems of rural areas and the challenges presented by the new roles being assigned to the rural world. Furthermore, LEADER has subsequently produced material, local impacts through its ability to generate investment in development projects. The…
Information and communication technologies in rural hotels
2010
There is a consensus about the beneficial effects of the applications of information and communication technologies (ICT) in several business contexts. Rural tourism companies have embraced these technological advances that have made a positive contribution to their quick expansion in recent years. Nevertheless, some technologies have received scarce attention from rural accommodation managers. The aim of this paper is to generate a conceptual framework on ICT development in the tourism market and, in particular, in rural accommodations. Thus, we aim at providing an overview of the main technological developments applied in this sector, analysing the level of ICT implementation in Spanish r…
Experiments in sustainable rural livelihood in Finland
2008
This paper addresses rural development and farm level action in Finland by posing the following main questions: What is the pioneering potential of small-scale entrepreneurship in enhancing rural sustainability? What are the specialisations feasible for such entrepreneurship in the present societal circumstances? What kind of local networking does it take to sustain on-farm activity for rural sustainability? We present empirical evidence from Central Finland about the ways in which both local food entrepreneurship and farm-based renewable energy production add to the rural livelihood and particularly to its social dimension. It is concluded that there is a potential overall impact on sustai…
Is culture-led redevelopment relevant for rural planners? The risk of adopting urban theories in rural settings
2016
In the paper, the author argues that cultural strategies and theories about urban planning may be irrelevant or even counterproductive outside urban and suburban contexts. In many rural settings the problem is not the destruction of the cultural heritage or how to counterbalance the influence from corporate interests, but rather the absence of such interests in the first place. From a study of two rural municipalities in southern Norway, the author demonstrates that culture-led strategies may be more of a distraction than an instrument for creating economic growth. Measured by the common goals for rural development in Norway, the cultural strategy has only been a success in one of the cases…
Citizens' participation and community orientation – indicators of social sustainability of rural welfare services
2011
The article discusses the issues of social services in rural areas from a theoretical view point of sustainability paradigms of social work. The ecological crisis existing beyond the ongoing global economic crisis is not separated from the increasing urbanization and weakening perspectives in rural areas. The paper is based on results from a participatory action research project in Finland, which aims at strengthening social service provision in rural areas through citizens' participation and community-orientation. The neoliberal politics of centralization, marketization and privatization are heavily transforming rural regions also in the Nordic welfare states right now. The debates in the …
Rurality as a Created Field: Towards an Integrated Rural Development in Latvia?
1999
The article looks at the post-socialist countryside as a created field constructed through the discourses and practices of different actors. Despite the fact that small-scale holdings are the major outcome of agricultural reform, and subsistence oriented farmers constitute the bulk of the rural population, there are a variety of other actors in the new Latvian countryside. Their interests are reflected in three competing approaches to rural development: the small farmer approach, the liberal economic approach and the integrated development approach. Although it is not yet clear which strategy will take the lead, the article argues for policies in favour of varied rural actors, the strengthe…