VSstuck in big cities at the time of confinement, many have dreamed of greenery and the countryside. Some have taken the plunge, taking advantage of the development of telework. But recent studies show that moves to medium-sized towns or suburbs have been the most numerous: 80% of French people live in towns and, whatever one may think, living in the countryside still often means difficult access to employment, limited cultural life, incessant transport… a situation aggravated by high petrol prices.
It is to combat these obstacles to the installation of young generations in rural areas that the European Union has launched a program called Smart Rural 21, which has just been completed and which we studied. The idea? That the aspiration to a calmer life, better air, healthier food and more spacious housing can attract inhabitants in a sustainable way in currently aging territories. Across Europe, the challenges are similar. It is a question of finding relays of quality activity in these campaigns to allow more people to live there without degrading the environment.
For teleworkers and entrepreneurs to set up, the quality of Internet connections is essential. Providing low-cost spaces to start new activities is also helpful. Finally, facilitating access to public services is essential. And, for all this, dedicated funding is necessary. But the attractiveness of rural areas also depends on organizational innovations whose importance is insufficiently recognised.
Why not the Far North
The online services for mutual aid between neighbors which are currently being developed in large cities, making it possible to obtain local advice and helping hands, are in fact inspired by ancestral village practices. In many villages, these support networks are very much alive today. They facilitate both neighborhood solidarity and carpooling.
The European Union seeks to disseminate this type of good practice as much as possible in order to inspire elected officials and villagers wishing “to invent their life rather than consume it”. The Smart Rural 21 project thus highlights some twenty remarkable initiatives, all concerning municipalities with less than 15,000 inhabitants and including economic, social and environmental aspects.
To facilitate transitions to rural life, a Swedish village of 800 inhabitants near the Arctic Circle has, for example, created an application that allows potential candidates to project themselves into this adventure. Price of housing, possibility of work, school, cultural offer… All the elements are there to help those who plan to leave the city to make their choices between the villages in search of new inhabitants, by tempting – why not – the Far North.
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