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SEMINAR 1998 |
THE ARKLETON TRUST
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[CONTENTS] [NEXT PAGE] |
3. Rural development issues in the EUMany of the following trends are linked through the general issue of globalisation and related economic, social and political restructuring. Most of them originate outside rural areas themselves, and make it increasingly necessary to view such localities in a broader context. They are not specifically 'rural' in origin or nature: what delineates rural from urban restructuring is not so much the nature of the forces driving change or their general consequences, but rather the specific forms which these take in areas we perceive as 'rural'.It is important to stress that rural areas differ markedly from one another in their economic structure and activity, their natural and human resources, the peripherality of their location, their demographic and social conditions, their history and culture. They are therefore affected in different ways, and to differing extents, by the trends identified. Policies and support structures for rural areas must increasingly recognise this diversity of conditions and outcomes through flexible support structures and devolved responsibility under the subsidiarity principle.
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