scholarly journals Linking Geoheritage and Traditional Architecture for Mitigating Depopulation in Rural Areas: the Palaeozoic Villages Route (Courel Mountains UNESCO Global Geopark, Spain)

Geoheritage ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Ballesteros ◽  
Pablo Caldevilla ◽  
Ramón Vila ◽  
Xose Carlos Barros ◽  
Martín Alemparte

AbstractThe use of stone in traditional architecture represents one of the most relevant links between geological and cultural heritage. As a topic of general interest and easily understandable to all public, this link is a guiding thread for touristic routes mitigating the depopulation trend that affects large inland rural areas, including many areas in UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGp). In the northwest of Spain, the Courel Mountains UGGp created the Palaeozoic Villages Route for touristic purposes in 2018, highlighting the relevance of local stones in traditional architecture as a key feature for sustainable development. For the design and creation of this route, seven villages were selected along six criteria: (1) the representativeness of the building stone with the bedrock of the UGGp, (2) the preserved traditional architecture, (3) their link with geoheritage, (4) the scenic beauty of their surroundings, (5) the potential combination with other touristic activities, and (6) the presence of local services. The Palaeozoic Villages Route exhibits four rock types/sections/structures spanning four Palaeozoic periods, as well as different uses for walling and roofing depending on the rock feature. Since 2018, the route experienced an increased revenue of 19% in the touristic sector to the traditional villages, while visitors used up to 61% of the local services of the UGGp for one or more days. In addition, the route reinforces the awareness of depopulation and abandonment of rural villages, fostering the purchase and/or restoration of dwellings as second regular residences in tranquil and scenic environments. In the short to medium term, these actions are expected to reverse or, at least, minimise the loss of population in the UGGp.

2021 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 01007
Author(s):  
Eugene Stovba ◽  
Andrey Stovba ◽  
Aydar Usmanov ◽  
Aidar Sharafutdinov ◽  
Irek Araslanbaev

The article highlights the need of applying cluster approach and foresight technologies in the formation of rural areas sustainable development strategy. An algorithm, including main stages of the rural areas sustainable development strategy design based on the cluster approach and foresight technologies, is presented. Cluster scenario for the rural sustainable economic and social development in the Non-chernozem zone of the Republic of Bashkortostan has been designed, which comprehensively takes into account the results of clustering, strategic planning and foresight forecasting of rural areas development. This scenario allows us to determine the extreme and most probable target indicators values of rural areas development for the long and medium term in the cluster display.


2020 ◽  
pp. 753-770
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Slusarza ◽  
Marek Cierpial-Wolan

The values of the natural environment in the subject literature are commonly indicated as an asset conducive to development shaping the competitiveness of areas with such values. The paper attempts to assess the use of endogenous potential of such areas in shaping the multifunctional, sustainable development of rural areas that have such qualities. In particular, the aim was to check to what extent the sme sector, dominating in the economic structure of rural areas, solves the key problem of labour market imbalance and population migration in environmentally valuable areas. The area of detailed research is Podkarpacie, the Polish region considered as a peripheral, border region, the least urbanized region with the highest share of areas covered by various forms of nature protection and forestation, with one of the lowest gdp per capita indicator in the country. For the purpose of implementing the research assumptions, a taxonomic unit (using the complete linkage method) consisting of powiats with the highest concentration of features characteristic for rural areas of high natural values was separated. Synthetic indicators calculated on the basis of the Hellwig taxonomic development pattern method and a positional method using Weber's median were used to assess the diversity of entrepreneurship level. The research confirmed that the non-agricultural economic activity sector is less developed in areas of high natural value. Despite positive developments in the enterprise sector, their potential is too weak an economic base for addressing unsustainable labour market problems, as evidenced by high unemployment and a high negative migration balance. This limits the use of the endogenous potential of these areas and is not conducive to the concept of multifunctional, sustainable development. Migration poses a threat to the depopulation of these areas with all the negative consequences associated with such processes. This is a challenge for the studied areas and regional policy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-210
Author(s):  
Dileep N ◽  
Bhavani

India’s most of the population lives in rural villages, approximately 73%  (SandeepSaxena) of the population held up with agriculture and associated works as their main stream of income resources. The Countries economic development and financial growth fundamentally depends on the rural area and their living standards of rural population. Entrepreneurship in rural areas is one of the utmost important initiate towards economic development of county and its constituencies. Rural Entrepreneurship facilitates to uses the scarce resources in most effective manner thus increasing profits and rural livelihood. Due to lack of educational knowledge gap most of the rural entrepreneurs are unaware of the innovative development techniques and modern marketing methods etc. The main problem faced by rural entrepreneurs is raw materials and financial investments. Commonly rural entrepreneurs face the strange problems like, lack of training and development programs, fear of risk, and lack of experience in business, illiteracy, limited market scope and competition from the city entrepreneurs.


2018 ◽  
pp. 25-38
Author(s):  
Liudmila Kalinichenko

The article analyses the role of renewable energy in the process of the development of the energy market of the East African Community (EAC) . The author underlines the necessity of finding solutions for such challenges as rising wood and charcoal prices, deforestation, lack of affordable and reliable electricity for a large number of consumers. The study reveals that nowadays the percentage of people with access to modern sources of energy is very low, varying from 7 % in Burundi to 36% in Kenya, although the EAC countries made significant progress in 2000s. Most people in rural areas rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating, which leads to ecological and health problems. The author concludes that renewable energy development is considered by the Community as one of the prospective ways for providing energy to remote regions in view of abundant solar, wind and geothermal resources. Their strategy aims at the construction of micro and mini hydro stations, stand-alone solar PV systems and off-grids for rural population usage. The study shows that the investment in off-grid renewables has been steadily rising in recent times . Analyzing grid-connected power generation electricity, the author elicits that it is also based on renewable electricity, which accounts for 65% of the total amount. Kenya, with the highest installed capacity in this sector, is investing mainly in geothermal, solar and wind sources of energy, while the others are focusing on hydropower and solar. For the purpose of attracting private investment, the EAC partner states adopted different regulations, including Feed-in Tariff, zero-VAT and GET FIT Programme. The author assumes that renewable energy financing is one of the main challenges despite the support of different international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, UNIDO, AfDB and others. Nowadays energy efficiency measures are becoming important instruments for the EAC countries resulted in power savings. The other important trend is increasing cooperation among them due to their grid-connected power systems in the East African Power Pool. In this context, in November 2017, the EAC Partner States adopted Energy Security Policy Framework, in order to ensure the sustainable development of their energy sector.


Author(s):  
N.N. Balashova ◽  
◽  
D.A. Korobeynikov ◽  
S.A. Popova ◽  
◽  
...  

Typologization of rural areas, taking into account differences in population density and level of socio-economic development, is necessary to identify “growth points” and strategic sustainability benchmarks. The method of integrated assessment of the level of socio-economic development of rural territories is proposed, according to which the grouping of Russian regions is carried out. Applying data on rural population density to the results of calculations allowed us to identify 12 typological groups, in the context of which unified recommendations on sustainable development of territories should be formed.


Author(s):  
A.I. Chernykh ◽  
◽  
O.V. Goncharenko ◽  

Rural settlements occupy a significant part of the territory of Russia, where about 25% of the population lives and significant natural resource potential is concentrated, but the level of their socio-economic development is significantly inferior to urban ones. Increasing depressiveness of rural areas and spatial socio-economic differentiation is a systemic problem and an obstacle to the balanced development of the national economy, reduces its competitiveness due to insufficient use of economic potential, creates challenges to the economic and national security of the state. A powerful tool for countering such trends is the formation and implementation of the potential for the development of small agribusiness, which is mainly based on households created in the form of peasant (farmer) and personal subsidiary associations. The article ana-lyzes the potential of small agribusiness development in rural areas.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Marcin Surówka ◽  
Łukasz Popławski ◽  
Helena Fidlerová

The work discusses issues of the infrastructure, its instruments, and specifics of infrastructure in Polish and Slovak rural areas. The aim of this article is to analyze the level of technical infrastructure development in rural regions of the Małopolskie Voivodeship in Poland and the west part of Slovakia—Trnava self-governing region (Trnava region) as two regions with a similar position regarding regional competitiveness index. Following the topic, after identification of strengths and weaknesses of mentioned regions, the opportunities, and threats of sustainable development of infrastructure in rural areas have been analyzed using the SWOT method. The development of sustainable, reliable, and functional infrastructure does not only refer to the chosen regions of Poland and Slovakia but also other regions in the European Union. Sustainable infrastructure is a factor stimulating social and economic progress as one of the most important determinants of sustainable development and regional competitiveness. The authors notice a particular lack in the sustainable development of infrastructure in the field of water and sewerage management together with the supply of water. Therefore, this article tries to complete the gap in research focusing on the concept of a more systematic approach to technical infrastructure improvement in the context of sustainable development, and strategy of cooperation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3816
Author(s):  
Javier Rodrigo-Ilarri ◽  
Camilo-A. Vargas-Terranova ◽  
María-Elena Rodrigo-Clavero ◽  
Paula-A. Bustos-Castro

For the first time in the scientific literature, this research shows an analysis of the implementation of circular economy techniques under sustainable development framework in six municipalities with a depressed economy in Colombia. The analysis is based on solid waste data production at a local scale, the valuation of the waste for subsequent recycling, and the identification and quantification of the variables associated with the treatment and final disposal of waste, in accordance with the Colombian regulatory framework. Waste generation data are obtained considering three different scenarios, in which a comparison between the simulated values and those established in the management plans are compared. Important differences have been identified between the waste management programs of each municipality, specifically regarding the components of waste collection, transportation and disposal, participation of environmental reclaimers, and potential use of materials. These differences are fundamentally associated with the different administrative processes considered for each individual municipality. This research is a good starting point for the development of waste management models based on circular economy techniques, through the subsequent implementation of an office tool in depressed regions such as those studied.


Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Krystyna Kurowksa ◽  
Renata Marks-Bielska ◽  
Stanisław Bielski ◽  
Audrius Aleknavičius ◽  
Cezary Kowalczyk

Sustainable development is socioeconomic growth that integrates political, economic, and social measures alongside environmental protection to meet the needs of communities and citizens without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The sustainable development concept was initially based on three main pillars: environment, economy, and society. In successive years, this concept has been expanded to include new pillars. The awareness of these changes has influenced our research interests. The main research objective of this study was to evaluate the applicability of geographic information system (GIS) tools (data, tools, and multidimensional analyses) to the implementation of sustainable development principles in rural areas. The study covered rural and nonurbanized areas in Poland, especially farmland, forests, fisheries, and farms. The study presents the results of our research into environmental, economic, and social determinants of growth in the spatial dimension. GIS tools continue to evolve, which improves access to information and increases database managers’ awareness that highly accurate data are needed for spatial analyses. GIS systems allow us to formulate, in a structured and formal way, models that reflect both the current state and forecast changes that will occur in space. It is a very useful tool in the sustainable development of rural areas.


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