| dc.description.abstract | Worldwide urbanization has been draining people from rural regions into metropolises, leaving behind shrinking rural regions. Shrinking rural regions can be witnessed across worldwide, but ever more prevalent in Europe. The traditional and most common policy response to shrinkage, aims at restoring population- and economic growth in these regions. Shrinking rural regions are often deprived of the benefits of the current economy model as they struggle to find their place in competitive world markets. Hence, in recent years there has been increasing recognition in policymaking for the need of a paradigm shift to a more sustainable way of adapting to shrinkage, with a focus on increasing well-being. Through this discourse, the concept of the “Green Economy” (GE) arose as a potential alternative pathway for the revitalization of shrinking rural regions in Europe. The GE is promising in this context as it provides the opportunity to reinvigorate the importance of spatial distributions beyond the traditional, growth-oriented context of rooted political structures. Furthermore, it places the well-being at its core and can be seen as an opportunity for fundamental societal transition, preservation of rural environment and a break from growth-oriented development pressures.
Hence, through two case studies namely, in Zeeland (the Netherlands) as well as Thuringia (Germany), this research explored the current political strategies on shrinkage by examining the two strategies on mitigation (growth-oriented) and adaption (well-being oriented) focused revitalization. There it was analysed to what extent policymakers have already shifted to an adaptation-focused policy strategy and how these relate to the concept of the GE. Furthermore, an analysis on the current role of the GE in revitalization was conducted. Lastly, lessons learnt from both case studies were applied in the European context in order to recommend further steps for other European shrinking regions.
Overall, findings showed that there can be witnessed a shift in adaptation-oriented policies regarding shrinkage in both case studies. In regard to the connection of the concepts of the GE and adaptation-focused revitalization, there has been no clear connection found on policy level. Due to the complex nature of shrinkage, the GE is not a universally applicable concept which can lead to adaptation- focused revitalization. However, through bottom-up initiatives the concept of the GE has been identified as a driver for increasing citizen empowerment as well as a way of reconnecting local actors to their local resources, which can lead to an improvement of well-being. Nevertheless, the GE has been criticized due to its broad definition as well as growth-perspective which has been identified as not being progressive enough for the long-term transition needed in shrinking regions. In order to increase the implementation of the GE as a driver for adaptation focused revitalization, there is need for flexible governmental funding as well as the stimulation of educational trainings. Further research should aim at monitoring societal change and well-being as well as looking into more ambitious ways of increasing a local economy such as concepts of de-growth. | |
