Remote rural regions: pioneering the adaptation to demographic change?
Remote rural areas are particularly vulnerable to shrinking and ageing populations, and lower economic growth. They require adaptation strategies tailored to the unique circumstances of each region, a recent Joint Research Centre (JRC) article highlights.
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The article calls for adaptation strategies to consider increasing labour productivity through new technologies and boosting labour market participation, especially of young and older people, women and immigrants. It further underlines the need for well-distributed and easily accessible public services to cover the essential needs of all age groups.
Adequate understanding of how the interplay between demographic and economic factors affects society is essential to address demographic challenges through tailored solutions. A recent JRC study – part of the Rural Observatory’s activities – analyses the connections between population, employment, GDP, and land use across urban, intermediate, rural close to a city, and rural remote regions.
Against this background and considering their demographic and economic specificities, remote rural regions could already be used as laboratories of effective adaptation to the ongoing demographic change.
Explore the latest Rural Pact resources on the topic of demography.