Multifunctional Countryside in Rural Development

Multifunctional Countryside in Rural Development

1. INTRODUCTION

   • 1. Rural Dilution
     • Affects many rural locations, term originally used in the 1950's. (Smailes, 2002)
       • Change in social composition within rural populations.
         • Shift from Primary production, with agricultural change and labour losses.
           • Same time experiencing incursion of retirees and commuters.
     • 2. Multifunctional Countryside
       • Change from traditional mono-functional agriculture to more diverse rural space.
       • 'Multifunctionality' has emerged to describe the ongoing changes in rural areas' (Almstedt, 2013)
       • 3. Definition
         • 'the idea that rural landscapes typically produce a range of commodity and non-commodity use values simultaneously' (McCarthy, 2005)
           • Term first used in 1990's by policymakers who sought to go beyond productivist and post-productivist concepts.
             • Rural multifunctional places are built, run and used by people (LEADER, 2006)
         • 4. This essay seeks to understand how the idea of a multifunctional countryside can help us to understand the development of the countryside in the past, present and into the future, after all how the countryside functions is constantly changing.

2. PARAGRAPH ONE - PAST

   • 1. Rural Decline
     • As population has decreased in the past, those who have remained in Agriculture increasingly find themselves on a 'treadmill of production' (Richards, 2008).
       • Common problem in western world rural spaces.
         • The disappearance of facilities and services has resulted in a diminished social situation. (Wilson, 2010)
           • Mono functional agriculture production and productivist ideologies have contributed to the vulnerability of rural communities. (Wilson, 2010)
             • Open to attack and decline.
               • e.g. 2001 foot and mouth UK outbreak.
                 • £3.1 Billion cost to rural uk economy. (DEFRA, 2004)
     • 2. Centralisation of decision making
       • POST WW2- power and governance centralised.
         • Little opportunity for rural areas to act in a multifunctional way.
           • As concluded by the OECD, rural policy in places like Scotland was highly centralised with too little genuine community empowerment (OECD, 2008)
         • Production rather than multi-function.
           • 'more intensive forms of production and the use of agricultural inputs' (Richards, 2008)
             • Time of food rationing
             • Empowered local communities
       • 3. Human Involvement
         • Countryside structure and function influenced by human perception and cognition (Nassauer, 1995)
           • Westminster had proved ineffective in enacting effective rural policy.

3. PARAGRAPH TWO - PRESENT DAY

   • 1. Evolved
     • Decline in rural spaces meant the countryside would inevitably change.
       • No longer dominated by agriculture. Now more complex, multifaceted, taking varying pathways in development.
         • ideals of productivist agriculture in the Western world have faded as the unintended consequences of intensive agriculture have contributed to rural decline and environmental problems. (Richards, 2008)
     • 2. Change in Governance
       • Policy makers have central question of how the state, society and markets can work together for the 'economic, social, cultural and environmental health of rural places. (Shucksmith, 2007)
         • Integrated development programme (IDP)
           • Originating from integrated rural development (IRD) and introduced in the 1980's.
             • Seeks to address 'the need to develop a new model of rural development support' (Ward, 2002)
       • 3. Leader
         • IRD approach exemplified by the LEADER community initiative.
           • Provides support to rural business.
             • Creates jobs
             • Support rural economy
             • Make the most out of a multi functional countryside.
               • Hermsen, Chairman of LEADER, Netherlands. 'The commitment and cooperation of the community was the 'social gold' that makes a multifunctional centre possible.
         • West of England
           • West of England allocated £1.4 million between 2015 and 2020 by LEADER (Wern, 2014)
             • Success not universal, but West of England scheme a catalyst for a more strategic approach to rural problems.
         • 4. Linking LEADER to the multi-functional countryside.
           • Change in governance from central to local should allow locals to embrace multifunctionality.
             • Some say LEADER aid isn't utilised effectively.
               • Current EU policy does attempt to adapt to complex requirements of a multi-functional countryside.

4. PARAGRAPH THREE - FUTURE

   • Despite a growing consensus between academics and policy makers that a multi-functional countryside is valuable, the term is by no means clearly and uniformly conceptualised or understood. (Wilson, 2007)
   • 1. Contributions from the Rural