Reflections on the Closure of Rural Schools in the Local Socio-economic Context - The Example of Poland

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 943-965
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska ◽  
Maciej Stawicki
Keyword(s):  
Rural Schools ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Spatial Differentiation ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Economic Functioning ◽  
Primary School Pupils ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Desk Research

The aim of the research has been to portray spatial differentiation of the process of school closures in rural areas of Poland, as well as to identify causes, and the effects of the closures on the socio-economic functioning of communities and local governments. To achieve that, desk research was first applied, with data used to classify Poland’s gminas (local-authority areas), in line with changes in numbers of pupils and schools. In the next step, in-depth interviews with gmina authorities and inhabitants were conducted, to allow intentionally-selected case studies to be considered further. It emerged that the main reasons for around 3300 Polish schools to close over the 2000-2016 period were declining fertility plus migration, combining to reduce numbers of primary-school pupils. Economic reasons were cited as the direct cause of school closures in the countryside. Both the negative and positive effects of closing rural schools in various groups were found.

scholarly journals Relationship between Public Service Satisfaction and Intention of Continuous Residence of Younger Generations in Rural Areas: The Case of Jeonbuk, Korea

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1203
Author(s):  
Kyung-Young Lee
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Service Satisfaction ◽  
Economic Potential ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Positive Effects

This study examines the population decline of younger generations in rural areas, the factors that influence the intention of continuous residence, and how these influences differ based on regional economic potential. Previous studies on intention of continuous residence lack some discussion of the role of local governments. Therefore, satisfaction with public services provided by local governments was considered as a main factor. Specifically, this study analyzed the effect of public service satisfaction on intention of continuous residence and compared this influence according to regional economic potential. This study selected respondents aged between 25 and 49 years in Jeonbuk Province, Korea. Data were collected from 980 people through an online survey, and multistage stratified sampling based on the number of residents by district and resident ages was applied to the sample design. To test the hypothesis, the study conducted a moderating effect analysis using the categorical moderator reflected by regional economic potential. The empirical analysis shows that housing support and residential environment management of public service satisfaction had positive effects on intention of continuous residence. Housing support services in particular had a stronger influence. In addition, the effect of housing support on intention of continuous residence was further strengthened in regions with low economic potential. The results of this study provide policy implications for developing countries facing a population decline in rural areas due to regional disparities between urban and rural areas.

scholarly journals EFL teachers’ online teaching in rural schools during the COVID-19 pandemic: Stories from Indonesia

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-221
Author(s):  
I Putu Indra Kusuma
Keyword(s):  
Rural Schools ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Closures ◽  
English Teaching ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
English Instruction

The implementation of online English instruction in remote areas during the COVID-19 pandemic, which mandates school closures, remains unknown, especially given these areas’ reputation for inadequate educational facilities. Additionally, the preparations, implementation, and challenges experienced by English as a Foreign Language (henceforth, EFL) teachers in rural areas remain unclear. This study therefore aimed at exploring the experiences of EFL teachers in rural areas on (1) their readiness for conducting online teaching, (2) their implementation of online teaching, and (3) the challenges during the implementation of online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted in Indonesia with eight English teachers in rural schools. This study was a qualitative study that employed a phenomenological study approach and used semi-structured interviews to collect the data. The findings indicate that EFL teachers, during this pandemic time, were able to conduct fully online English teaching because they possessed sufficient knowledge of English instruction using technology. Additionally, these teachers might leverage various technologies and adapt those tools to transform their usual face-to-face English instruction into online instruction. Nonetheless, these teachers in rural schools frequently encountered challenges with internet connectivity, student-owned technology devices, student enthusiasm, and student netiquette when enrolling in online English teaching. Additionally, this article discusses some practical considerations for implementing online English teaching during a pandemic. 

scholarly journals Bridging Digital Inequalities in Rural Schools in Germany: A Geographical Lottery?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Christina Rundel ◽  
Koen Salemink
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Rural Schools ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Lower Saxony ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

Repeatedly, it has been argued that advancements in digitalisation could be beneficial for rural areas. However, digital inequalities persist and affect rural communities as well. Schools can play a key role in bridging digital inequalities, but little attention has been paid to the specific conditions rural schools find themselves in when facing continuous digital developments. Therefore, we apply the digital inclusion lens and explore the impact of digital developments on rural schools in the German context. In 2019, we conducted 16 in-depth interviews with heads and teachers from rural elementary and secondary schools in Baden-Wurttemberg and Lower Saxony. We found that smaller rural schools especially can experience difficulties and conclude that the contribution of schools to a digital-included society is subject to a geographical lottery. This could eventually increase existing rural–urban digital inequalities and these findings are also relevant in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing a sudden switch to distance learning.

Traditional and Customary Law: Adat

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Butt ◽  
Tim Lindsey
Keyword(s):  
Judicial Review ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Small Proportion ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
The State ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
The Past ◽  
Statutory Protection ◽  
Traditional Communities

Many Indonesians—primarily those living in rural areas—still follow customary law (adat). The precise rules and processes of that adat differ significantly from place to place, even within short distances. This chapter shows that for many decades, adat has been subservient to national law. State-made law overrode it, leaving it applicable only in a very small proportion of cases where no national law applied, where judges could apply it as ‘living law’. Even in these cases, many judges ignored adat or distorted it when deciding cases. The 1945 Constitution was amended in 2000 to require the state to formally recognize and respect customary law, as practised in traditional communities. The Constitutional Court has given effect to this in various judicial review cases, as have some statutes enacted in the past decade or so. However, this constitutional and statutory ‘protection’ has been impeded in practice by requirements for traditional communities to be formally ‘recognized’ by their local governments, many of whom have been unresponsive to calls for recognition.

scholarly journals The Valorization of Italian “Borghi” as a Tool for the Tourism Development of Rural Areas

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6643
Author(s):  
Carmen Bizzarri ◽  
Roberto Micera
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Swot Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Territorial Identity ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
Depth Interviews

The paper comes from the need to search for criteria useful for the valorization of heritage towns, located in rural and/or inland areas of Italy, now affected by depression and depopulation process. To this end, the authors point out how territorial identity can constitute the theoretical foundation to influence development policies and, in particular, tourism development for the sustainability process. It was therefore decided to interview a number of stakeholders who could contribute, with their professionalism and expertise, to identifying possible paths and processes for the enhancement of these areas for tourism development. The methodology was based on in-depth interviews, which allowed for the identification of a of a Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis, offering a guideline for the correct governance of these rural areas for their tourist enhancement in terms of the sustainability of development and tourist attractiveness. The study is an observatory that will monitor the implementation of sustainable tourism enhancement of the “borghi”.

scholarly journals Sustained sustainable development actions of China from 1986 to 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingsheng Liu ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Jiaming Zhang ◽  
Xiaoming Wang ◽  
Yuan Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Development Levels ◽  
The Right ◽  
Resource Conditions

AbstractAchieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a long-term task, which puts forward high requirements on the sustainability of related policies and actions. Using the text analysis method, we analyze the China National Sustainable Communities (CNSCs) policy implemented over 30 years and its effects on achieving SDGs. We find that the national government needs to understand the scope of sustainable development more comprehensively, the sustained actions can produce positive effects under the right goals. The SDGs selection of local governments is affected by local development levels and resource conditions, regions with better economic foundations tend to focus on SDGs on human well-being, regions with weaker foundations show priority to basic SDGs on the economic development, infrastructures and industrialization.

scholarly journals The Dynamic Impact of Agricultural Fiscal Expenditures and Gross Agricultural Output on Poverty Reduction: A VAR Model Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5766
Author(s):  
Guanglu Zeng ◽  
Chenggang Zhang ◽  
Sanxi Li ◽  
Hailin Sun
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Var Model ◽  
Poverty Eradication ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
Fiscal Spending

China was the first developing country to achieve the poverty eradication target of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 10 years ahead of schedule. Its past approach has been, mainly, to allocate more fiscal spending to rural areas, while strengthening accountability for poverty alleviation. However, some literature suggests that poor rural areas still lack the endogenous dynamics for sustainable growth. Using a vector autoregression (VAR) model, based on data from 1990 to 2019, we find that fiscal spending plays a much more significant role in reducing the poverty ratio than agricultural development. When poverty alleviation is treated as an administrative task, each poor village must complete the spending of top-down poverty alleviation funds within a time frame that is usually shorter than that required for successful specialty agriculture. As a result, the greater the pressure of poverty eradication and the more funds allocated, the more poverty alleviation projects become an anchor for accountability, and the more local governments’ consideration of industry cycles and input–output analysis give way to formalism, homogeneity, and even complicity. We suggest using the leverage of fiscal funds to direct more resources to productive uses, thus guiding future rural revitalization in a more sustainable direction.

scholarly journals Effects of Production of Woody Pellets in the Southeastern United States on the Sustainable Development Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 821
Author(s):  
Keith L. Kline ◽  
Virginia H. Dale ◽  
Erin Rose ◽  
Bruce Tonn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Southeastern United States ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Responsible Consumption ◽  
Development Goals

Wood-based pellets are produced in the southeastern United States (SE US) and shipped to Europe for the generation of heat and power. Effects of pellet production on selected Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) are evaluated using industry information, available energy consumption data, and published research findings. Challenges associated with identifying relevant SDG goals and targets for this particular bioenergy supply chain and potential deleterious impacts are also discussed. We find that production of woody pellets in the SE US and shipments to displace coal for energy in Europe generate positive effects on affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), industry innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), and life on land (SDG 15). Primary strengths of the pellet supply chain in the SE US are the provisioning of employment in depressed rural areas and the displacement of fossil fuels. Weaknesses are associated with potential impacts on air, water, and biodiversity that arise if the resource base and harvest activities are improperly managed. The SE US pellet supply chain provides an opportunity for transition to low-carbon industries and innovations while incentivizing better resource management.

scholarly journals Aquaculture Feeds Can Be Outlaws for Eutrophication When Hidden in Rice Fields? A Case Study in Qianjiang, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (22) ◽  
pp. 4471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu ◽  
Hu ◽  
Song ◽  
Chen ◽  
Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Material Balance ◽  
Rice Production ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
Water Eutrophication

Water eutrophication caused by agricultural production has become one of the most important factors that impede sustainable rural environmental governance in China. As a result, the Chinese central and local governments want to reduce the use of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer and gain socioeconomical profit simultaneously by promoting crayfish and rice integrated system (CRIS) in the rural areas with abundant water resources. In this article, we investigated whether CRIS in Qianjiang, Hubei, the origin place of the system in China, contributes to fulfilling the governments’ expectations. We found that CRIS efficaciously cuts the fertilizer rate in rice production and boosts farmers’ incomes because crayfish has a demand for water quality and holds a large internal market requirement. However, higher profit encourages farmers to expand crayfish production and thus discourages the initiatives in rice production. The area of the ditch for crayfish production expands ceaselessly and exceeds the limit of regulation of CRIS. As a result, the CRIS in the areas has emerged as a practice of aquaculture but in farmland. This is a regulatory gap. The input–output analysis of CRIS by material balance method can also reveal that excessive feed for crayfish has become a new source of agricultural pollution. Beyond that, due to the changed irrigation system and increased water exchange frequency of CRIS, the pollution has transformed from passive distribution to active, which will increase the risk of water eutrophication on a large area.

scholarly journals Investigating the Sustainability Performance of PPP-Type Infrastructure Projects: A Case of China

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengqin Zheng ◽  
Ke Xu ◽  
Qing He ◽  
Shaoze Fang ◽  
Lin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Behavioral Control ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Perceived Behavioral Control ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Managerial Implications

In China, the demand for public infrastructure projects is high due to the acceleration of urbanization and the rapid growth of the economy in recent years. Infrastructures are mainly large scale, so local governments have difficulty in independently completing financing work. In this context, public sectors often seek cooperation from private sectors, in which public–private partnership (PPP) is increasingly common. Although numerous studies have concentrated on sustainable development, the unsustainability performances of infrastructures are often reported on various media. Furthermore, studies on the sustainability performances of PPP-type infrastructure (PTI) projects are few from the perspective of private sectors’ behaviors. In this study, we adopted the modified theory of planned behavior and the structure equation model and conducted a questionnaire survey with 258 respondents for analyzing the sustainable behaviors of private sectors. Results indicated that behavioral attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm interact significantly. They have direct positive effects on behavioral intention and then indirectly influence actual behavior through this intention. Actual sustainable behaviors of private sectors have significantly positive effects on the sustainable development of cities. We offer theoretical and managerial implications for public and private sectors on the basis of the findings to ensure and promote the sustainability performances of PTI projects.

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