In Sweden the number of rural food shops has decreased for more than 50 years. Often the closing of a village shop is supposed to affect the migration patterns in the area it has been serving. However, according to this study, neither in- nor out-migration in the area affected by the closing is...

The paper will address the changing status of rural regions in policy formation in Sweden. Two basic processes are at work. First, decades of out-migration have given many rural regions a demographic structure, which is causing a self-propelling de-population. Secondly, the internationalisation...

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The last decades have seen a rapidly growing interest in foresight methodology. Methods have been developed in corporate and governmental communication exercises often labelled technology foresight. In reality, these foresights have often drifted into processes of social change, since...

Traditional welfare states have gradually become more involved in competition politics. In order to sustain economic growth in a globalising economy these states get increasingly supply oriented and act to promote technological change, innovations and entrepreneurship. In Sweden, efforts to...

The working paper presents a new research agenda for Swedish rural research. Starting from a theoretical discussion on rurality as a research field and the motives for a specific rural research, we move to issues of definition and research perspectives. In the end, the specific rural environment...