Transforming Rural Communication Three sociological case studies in a developed and urbanized rural area of northern Germany: regional partnership Lübeck bay, organic dairy farming and nature protection

Summary

Marginal rural areas suffer from isolation and a lack of communication with the outside world. The renaissance of rural values and food quality-related issues has brought many urban people to again approach rural areas and actors, sometimes with the intermediation of other more or less professional actors. In an EU share cost project TRUC (EU-QoL:QLAM-2001-00025; 2001-2003), several cases of regional and rural development throughout Europe have been analysed on the topic of transforming rural communication.
We present three of these cases in northern Germany: the Model Region Luebeck Bay, Organic Milk and Nature Protection. All of these projects are located in an area where urbanization and the multifunctionality of rural action and development is highly developed.
The general objective of the project was to consolidate a transdisciplinary and transsectoral approach to the problem of communication in rural areas, to raise awareness among practitioners and academics of the specificities of rural communication and of the principles of „progressive rural communication“ and to build a core network of academics and practitioners around this topic.
The project has an essentially exploratory function, so its achievements will be the basis for further research agendas and projects. The general objective is articulated into three specific objectives:
- Accumulating information on rural communication
- Creating new knowledge on rural communication
- Turning new knowledge into practice
The fulfilment of this objective will allow all actors involved in rural development to make decisions with more awareness of the importance of rural communication and to embody this awareness into rural development projects and practices.