New regional development concepts for rural peripheries

Since the mid-1990s regional and rural development policies have been subjects of intense debate in several European countries. The concept of “integrated rural development”, which comprises principles such as a cross-sectoral approach, decentralization and area-based strategies, has become particularly prominent. At the same time, new relationships between public, private and voluntary actors have evolved at the regional level and are being widely discussed as “regional governance”. Within this context, the study not only analyzes the latest concepts, strategies and instruments in regional and rural development policies, it also monitors their implementation at the regional and local levels. The study rests upon three qualitative case studies which were carried out in three different European regions: the Western Isles and Skye & Lochalsh in Scotland, the Jämtland province in Sweden and the region of Eisenwurzen in Austria.