The main objective of the research is to evaluate the significance of gmina local government in the field of agriculture and non-agricultural activity development in rural areas. To achieve this, questionnaires were designed and rural areas inhabitants were interviewed. The interviewees were...

Danish rural areas comprise 15% of the population and the bulk of agricultural production. Compared with urban areas, rural areas have generally been lacking a little behind in terms of employment, population and income levels in recent decades. However, seen in a European perspective, the...

The research was composed of two parts. In the first one, an attempt was made to determine spatial variations in the level of sustainable development of rural areas in the region of Green Lungs of Poland by means of taxonomic analysis. The level of sustainable development was presented as a...

During the past fifteen years Finnish agricultural, agri-environmental and rural policies have undergone signifi cant changes. Structural changes of agriculture, emphasis on the joint production of food and public goods, as well as the recognition of general multifunctional nature of agriculture...

Rural development processes can be interpreted as the result of an increasingly complex interplay of different driving forces. The 'rural web' concept, developed recently as a theoretical framework, emerges as the intersection of six inter-related dimensions (endogenity, novelty production,...

The assumption of the multifunctional character of the rural area implies the multiplication of roles that this territory has in the society. The new roles (ecologic, socio-cultural, etc.) are assumed as far as the rural society perceives their importance, as well as the benefi ts generated by...

The report presents the results from the analysis of the population of Polish rural municipalities. The analysis was related to broadly conceived “sustained developmentâ€. An essential aspect was also associated with “comparison†(yielding “development qualityâ€),...

The paper looks first at the geographical conditions, specifically the economic, socio-cultural, demographic, and environmental, including local conditions as the vital factor underlying the course of transformation in mountainous rural areas. Next, the paper considers the results of the case...

The state of rural social infrastructure and its impact on the quality of life and functioning of rural communities are traditionally seen as marginal to the “mainstream†development activities. The low quality of social infrastructure is, however, an important factor in the...

LEADER axis presents a novelty in the Slovenian agricultural policy. The main object of the current paper is to describe the implementation process of the 4th axis of Rural Development Programme of Slovenia in the period 2007-2013 and analysis of the Annual Implementation Plans for the year 2008...