Small and medium-sized towns have traditionally formed an integral part of the agricultural sector and wider rural economy, acting as a source of farm inputs, a first destination of farm outputs and as a source of consumer goods and services to farm households. In recent years, this relationship...

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the characterization of "residential" activities that correspond to services to the population, be it permanent or temporary, in a given locality. The spatial distribution of employment in these population-based activities is analyzed at the...

An understanding of economic and social disparities at the micro-regional level primarily involves relations between urban and rural areas. We examine the ?pays? as established by legislation on territorial planning and development, drawing up an inventory of these areas which were set up on a...

New governance structures, meant to empower local decision makers, are supported by some policies introduced by the European Commission. LEADER, from rural development policy, is among these approaches. Nevertheless, these new policies are implemented in very different multi-level governance...

This report is the final deliverable of TRUSTEE task 3.3. It present the research protocol, the methodology used and most of results. LEADER is qualified as down-up approach combining EU policy framework and local strategy. The implementation is quite heterogeneous dependend on institutional...

Farming systems in Europe are experiencing multiple stresses and shocks that may push systems beyond critical thresholds after which system change is expected to occur. These critical thresholds may lie in the economic, environmental, social and institutional domain. In this paper we take a...

The purpose of this study was to take a fresh look at the nature of organic production, consumption and marketing in England and Wales in order to better assess its current and likely contribution to rural development and its ability to meet consumer expectations. Based on a mixed methodological...