Smart City (SC) Initiative and Urban Development in Rural Regions of Inland Norway

This study investigates the nature of the interconnection between Smart City (SC) and urban development initiatives. A case of Hamar city is used to identify how SC initiatives is used to combat some of the key challenges faced by a smaller city and non-metropolitan region. In contrast to metropolitan areas, the inland region with Hamar as its administrative centre is facing depopulation. A qualitative approach was applied including individual semi-structured and focus-group interviews. Despite an ambition of adopting SC and several SC projects that are up and running, the process is still at the early stages where many of its key stakeholders are unfamiliar with Hamar's SC initiatives. Poor integration between ICT systems also creates certain challenges. It concludes that better integration and marketing effort should be directed at educating the public about the purpose and goal of SC. Moreover, as technology evolves, it is important to be cautious about issues concerning privacy while ensuring seamless integration and communication between the systems in order to become a true ‘smart' effort.

Alcohol Use in China: Unrecorded and Recorded Bai Jiu in Three Rural Regions

In China, approximately 70% of beverage alcohol is consumed in the form of spirits. An estimated 25% of all alcohol consumed is unrecorded, mostly spirits (bai jiu), produced outside regulatory systems in small neighborhood distilleries, mostly in rural areas. Unrecorded bai jiu drinkers are generally older, male, prefer higher-strength bai jiu, and drink daily and mostly at home. To explore possible regional differences, researchers used interview data from 2919 bai jiu drinkers in rural areas in Hebei, Anhui, and Hubei provinces in China. Results confirmed that patterns varied by province. The sample in Hubei preferred unrecorded bai jiu with a more stable preference to alcohol type, tended to drink less frequently, and reported experiencing less drinking pressure, suggesting lower-risk drinking patterns in this region. The Hebei and Anhui sample reported higher frequency and greater amount of alcohol consumption, were more likely to experience drinking pressure, indicating higher-risk patterns in alcohol use in these two regions. The results provide needed details about regional differences in unrecorded bai jiu drinking patterns that are not evident in aggregated data and suggest variations in drinking patterns that may reflect local geography, local values, traditions, and ethnic differences.

Rejuvenation in rural Ireland in response to the COVID-19 induced urban-to-rural migration phenomenon

The aim of this paper is to discuss the paradigm shift in residential choices induced by the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Firstly, the resilience of the rural regions belonging to the Northern Periphery and Arctic Program will be explored—the challenges brought about by COVID-19 within their tourism sectors, and the opportunities for rural revival generated by the current shifts in workplace mobility. The paper will then delve deeper into the case study of Ireland. The pre-existing issue of Ireland’s one-off housing and suburban sprawl will be explored, and the extent to which the regional plan “Our Rural Future” will tackle these issues by optimizing building density and dwelling typology in the post-COVID-19 era.

Driving for the unique opportunity for work: a qualitative study of nurses' motivation to commute to work

PurposeThis study aims to investigate what motivates nurses who live in a rural region with many vacant positions to choose a longer commute to work in a more populous capital region.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative descriptive design was used for this study. Nineteen commuting nurses were recruited through purposeful and snowball sampling and interviewed over the telephone. The interviews were analyzed using a manifest and latent content analysis.FindingsThe findings showed how the participating nurses' motivations to work in the capital region far away from their home were grounded in reaching the unique opportunity for work as a part of the unique organizational conditions, the unique positions and the unique work environment. The analysis showed how the nurses believed in better possibilities for themselves regarding opportunities for careers, specialized positions, development and education, as well as a lower hierarchy in management.Research limitations/implicationsStudies of commuting among nurses are sparsely investigated in the literature and especially through the lens of motivation. The few existing studies report on cross-sectional data, and to the authors’ knowledge, no studies have been investigated using a qualitative design. For future research, it would therefore be relevant to investigate nurses' motivation to commute to work in other countries in a larger sample and perhaps with larger commuting distances. This could contribute to a broader and more nuanced understanding of the factors that motivate nurses to commute long distances to work, not just nationally but also internationally.Practical implicationsThe authors have conceptualized which factors most affect nurses' motivation to commute to work from a rural to more populous capital region in Figure 2. Here, the findings of the study are presented alongside the two theoretical perspectives used to frame the study. The figure can be used as a benchmark for organizational leaders who are interested in recruitment and retention of nurses, and in particular whether they are interested in the specific factors affecting nurses' motivation to commute to work. Based on the study findings, the authors suggest that rural hospital organizations can benefit from focusing on building their reputation and including what factors make them unique and desirable. However, this is a balancing act for organizational leaders, as they must deliver on promises made to nurses when they are engaged in recruitment. If they fail to do so, as indicated in the findings, nurses are likely to leave the organization for other job opportunities.Originality/valueThis study contributes to new knowledge on why nurses decide to commute to work from rural areas to more populated areas. Looking at the nurses' reasons and perspective for commuting, the authors must acknowledge the difficulties in retaining nurses in rural regions. From a recruitment and retention perspective, nurse employers in rural regions must increase their offerings of unique work opportunities, including maintaining competitive pay and offering career, development and educational opportunities.

Challenges of impact assessment in Social Innovation: A qualitative study from two European rural regions

Over recent years, various approaches to assessing the impacts of social innovation (SI) have developed without a uniform method having arisen. There are some issues around how impacts can be assessed, connected with the questions on the nature of impacts, the levels of analysis and effects of a purely positivist approach to impact assessment. While attempting to assess such impacts, various SI initiatives face the diversity of challenges. To this end, the aim of the article is to investigate the experience of said initiatives promoting social innovation related to impact assessment of social innovation. The paper is based on an empirical study conducted with the local development associations and local action groups involved in social innovation projects in two rural regions of Austria and Portugal. The results indicate that, despite recognising the importance of impact assessment regarding social innovation activities and the opportunities it provides, local organisations in question face many challenges in assessing the impacts of social innovation, including conceptual and practical difficulties.

Cultural Consumption and Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Waste Separation Management in China

In 2017, the Chinese government created a policy on mandatory waste separation. Many communities and cities have created waste management institutions and appointed workers to supervise these actions. But there is little information about the situation in terms of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of waste separation and any differences among regions and cities. Thus, the goal of this paper is to show the current status quo and any differences and to analyze their determinants, especially regarding cultural consumption. Based on online survey data collected in 2021, we found that knowledge in rural regions was lower than in urban regions, but there was no difference in attitudes or practices; the practices in pilot cities were better than in non-pilot cities, but the knowledge and attitudes showed no differences. Different cultural consumption patterns had different impacts on waste separation knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Based on the results, a policy related to culture should be enacted to improve efficiency and increase the action impacts to solve environmental and social issues.

Food market’s state, opportunities and reserves of the Kazakhstan rural regions

The article analyzes the state regulation measures system of the agricultural production and food development in the regions of the state. This research purpose is the development of proposals for the economic component’s systematization of the production of export-oriented agricultural products and assessment of the state support level for the influence on the efficiency of the production of export-oriented agricultural products. The authors evaluated the efficiency indicators system of state support for the production’s export-oriented agricultural products and food as well as reserves for the food market’s development in rural regions of Kazakhstan. The research shows that for the agricultural production’s development Kazakhstan has a significant resource potential (land, labor and materialtechnical), which allows to ensure the population’s food security, increase exports and reduce imports. For this, it is necessary to improve the forms and methods of state financial support and, above all, export-oriented products and food, with considering republic regions strategic development. Efficiency indicators of the regional state support for the agricultural sector of the economy are characterized by the following: gross production, revenue, profit, level of profitability, financial stability, labor productivity. Considering the methodological approaches to the state support funds distribution, three principal directions for inter-budgetary regulation of the agro-industrial complex are suggested using the following methodology: per capita, covering the estimated financial gap, and equalizing budget provision. Subsidies in crop production (per hectare) for 1 ha of crops were canceled in 2018, and stock raising – from 2020.