The project aims to analyse rural development policies and practices in a range of countries with a view to developing a more robust model for sustainable, integrated rural development in the EU. The aim of this initial scoping study has also been to investigate actors, institutions and attitudes towards rural development in Europe, in order to help clarify key issues. Broad areas of interest were identified, as follows:

• The driving forces for rural change
• Institutions and institutional arrangements for advancing rural development
• National perspectives on rural development principles and goals
• The role of the environment in rural development policies and outcomes
• The role of social values (participation, equity, etc) in rural development
• The urban–rural interface and its implications The resourcing of rural development policy
• Accountability versus flexibility and innovation in policy delivery – achieving the best balance between bottom-up and top-down processes and concerns.

• The Nature of Rural Development: Towards a Sustainable Integrated Rural Policy in Europe - A Ten-Nation Scoping Study (2001) PDF 504.6 KB