Regional Development of Rural Areas and Promotion of Local Foods: Comparing the EU and US Approach

Author(s):  
Elizabeth Dooley ◽  
Allison Condra
Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 253
Author(s):  
Mirosław Biczkowski ◽  
Aleksandra Jezierska-Thöle ◽  
Roman Rudnicki

The paper’s main aim is to assess the measures implemented within the Rural Development Program (RDP) 2007–2013 in Poland. This programme is dedicated to the diversification of business activities in rural areas and rural livelihood and, thus, the improvement of the multifunctionality of rural areas. The analysis covered two measures from Axis 3, Improvement of the quality of life in rural areas and diversification of rural economy: M311, diversification into non-agricultural activities; and M312, Establishment and development of micro-enterprise. The study and the discussion are presented from a geographical perspective and, in a broader context, take into account several conditions (natural, urban, agricultural and historical) and the spatial diversity of the allocation of European Union (EU) funds. Models of a policy of multifunctional rural development, implemented after accession to the EU, are presented. The research’s spatial scope covers Poland’s territory on two spatial scales: the system of regions (16 NUTS2 units) and poviats (314 LAU level 1 units). The analysis covers all the projects implemented in Poland under the two measures of Axis 3 of the RDP 2007–2013. A set of conditions was prepared for all LAU1 units, forming the background for assessing the impact of the EU funds on the development of non-agricultural activities. To determine the relationship between the RDP measures and the selected groups of conditions, a synthetic index and a correlation index are used. They are also used to determine the mutual relations between the two analyzed activities in terms of the spatial scales used. Access to the EU funds (RDP) has considerably enlarged the opportunities for accelerating agricultural modernisation and restructuration towards multifunctional development, as well as the opportunities for implementing new development and work methods in the countryside in Poland. The attractiveness of the two studied RDP measures varied across regions. The beneficiaries’ activity depended on the local potential (resources), culture and tradition of the region, and size and potential of the farm. In the areas where agriculture is deeply rooted, beneficiaries were more willing to engage in ventures tapping into the resources available in their farms. Thus, they create additional livelihood of income and workplaces for household members. In turn, the beneficiaries from the areas where farms are smaller and economically weaker often undertake activities related to setting up a new business (outside farming).


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Jenichen

AbstractIt is a common—often stereotypical—presumption that Europe is secular and America religious. Differences in international religious freedom and religious engagement policies on both sides of the Atlantic seem to confirm this “cliché.” This article argues that to understand why it has been easier for American supporters to institutionalize these policies than for advocates in the EU, it is important to consider the discursive structures of EU and US foreign policies, which enable and constrain political language and behavior. Based on the analysis of foreign policy documents, produced by the EU and the United States in their relationship with six religiously diverse African and Asian states, the article compares how both international actors represent religion in their foreign affairs. The analysis reveals similarities in the relatively low importance that they attribute to religion and major differences in how they represent the contribution of religion to creating and solving problems in other states. In sum, the foreign policies of both international actors are based on a secular discursive structure, but that of the United States is much more accommodative toward religion, including Islam, than that of the EU.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1211
Author(s):  
Žana Jurjević ◽  
Stanislav Zekić ◽  
Danilo Đokić ◽  
Bojan Matkovski

Rural regions with a larger share of the primary sector in the overall economy are limited in their ability to achieve a sufficient level of competitiveness. In countries such as Serbia, where rural areas play an important role, addressing the problems affecting these areas is important for overall development. The purpose of this study is to determine the socioeconomic performance of the rural regions of Serbia and the EU in order to indicate the position of Serbia’s rural areas in the process of European integration. NUTS 3 (NUTS 2 for Germany) was used for analysis, and from this an Index of Socioeconomic Performance was created. This Index was created using Factor Analysis. The results point to Serbia lagging behind other EU regions in terms of development, with most of Serbia’s rural regions receiving the lowest ratings. These results are cause for alarm and indicate a need to create strategies that will direct resources towards key issues in these areas, whose potential would be adequately used through the implementation of rural policy measures, with the aim of overall socioeconomic development.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 5050
Author(s):  
Barbara Wieliczko ◽  
Agnieszka Kurdyś-Kujawska ◽  
Zbigniew Floriańczyk

The sustainability transition of rural areas is a must due to rapid climate changes and biodiversity loss. Given the limited resources of rural communities, policy should facilitate a just sustainability transition of the EU rural areas. The analysis of EU development policies, past performance and the envisaged scope of reform, presented in this study point to a serious inconsistency between the declaration and implementation of relevant policies. Namely, the marginal role rural areas perform in common agricultural policy and cohesion policy; a result of the lack of a complex approach to rural development. The analysis was based on the concept of good governance and took a multi-level perspective. It advocates territorial justice as an approach that should be at the core of creating a comprehensive policy for rural areas in the EU, including their diversity and empowering local communities to choose the transition pathway that is most in line with their current situation and development capacity. This analysis fills a gap in research on the evolution of the rural development policy in the EU. This research can inform the reprioritization and intensification of efforts to create equitable policies for EU rural development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-246
Author(s):  
Taedong Lee ◽  
Myungsung Kim ◽  
Natalie Chifamba

Author(s):  
Michaela Staníčková ◽  
Lukáš Melecký

Regional development policies based on local potential triggers a shift in the economic structure of territories. Exogenous and endogenous factors determine potential of regional development and it is necessary to use different indicators and methods to its evaluation. For the paper purpose, it is required to define metropolitan and peripheral functions as well as urban areas in the form of geographic models, depicting their spatial distribution in the European Union (EU). Nowadays, regions are increasingly becoming the drivers of the economy. All regions possess development opportunities – however, use these options enough, and hence the competitiveness of regions must be efficient enough. The paper focuses on dividing the EU NUTS 2 regions based on geographic models of the European economy into efficient and inefficient ones and identifying an optimal benchmark for inefficient regions as a strategy for enhancing their economic structure to measure regional efforts and progress.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-48
Author(s):  
Olha Demedyuk ◽  
Khrystyna Prytula

In the recent decade, the EU Member States have been actively implementing the regional development policy based on innovative strategies of smart specialization. However, lately, European researchers have been paying increasing attention to the issues of regions’ capacity to overcome the boundaries of administrative units inside the country and abroad and to the need to consider regions in the context of their functioning among others, especially from the viewpoint of the growing role of their innovative networks in global value chains. That is why currently the EU is addressing the development of cross-border smart specialization strategies. The paper aims to study the European experience on the functioning of cross-border innovation systems and joint strategic planning of cross-border regions’ development based on smart specialization and to outline the opportunities to implement the EU experience of cross-border approach to smart specialization in cross-border regions of Ukraine with EU Member States. The paper analyzes the views of foreign researchers on the links between innovation systems in cross-border space that constitute the theoretical basis of the study of cross-border smart specialization strategies, namely regarding the dimensions and level of their development. The research of European scientists on cross-border innovation systems in specific cross-border regions is examined, in particular on Spanish-French and German-French borders. Directions of implementation of smart specialization projects in cross-border context under the EU programs and other EU instruments that support regions in cooperation for the elaboration of joint view of development with neighbouring economically, socially, culturally, and historically close regions are outlined. The experience and methodology of the first cross-border smart specialization strategy for Spanish and Portuguese regions are studied in detail. The opportunities to use the EU experience by several Western Ukrainian regions based on the joint smart specialization priorities with the neighboring EU states are outlined. For this purpose, 1) the RIS3 strategies of the regions of Poland and Romania adjoining Ukraine and Regional Development Strategies of respective Ukrainian regions were analyzed to detect similar smart specialization priorities; 2) the clusters in the mentioned regions were analyzed as main drivers of achievement of smart specialization goals to detect similar or complementary functioning areas.


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