RURAL POPULATION CHANGE MATTERS, BUT DEMOGRAPHY IS NOT DESTINY
RURAL POPULATION CHANGE MATTERS, BUT DEMOGRAPHY IS NOT DESTINY

Summary/Abstract: Change, not stability is the normal situation for rural population in Poland, throughout Europe and in other more developed parts of the world. Rural communities experience population growth, decline, and/or increasing socio-demographic diversity in ways that challenge local institutions such as labor markets, schools, health care and local government. However, even though demographic changes can induce changes in other social and economic domains, demography is not destiny. Changes in population size and composition do not automatically and mechanistically result in changes in economic activity, poverty rates, farm land conversion, air and water pollution, and/or the utilization of government services. Rather, the impacts of population change are mediated by social structure, and by the larger national and international contexts in which rural localities are embedded. This article describes the main demographic trends and changes being experienced by rural Europe at the present time, and examines their potential impact on rural people and communities. I closely examine three of these trends that pose challenges and opportunities for rural communities: (a) population growth and international migration, (b) population ageing, and (c) urbanization and counter-urbanization. Then, using the case study of education, I explore the multiple outcomes that may result from changes in the size and composition of rural population at the community level.

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