Transitioning towards a Sustainable Wellbeing Economy—Implications for Rural–Urban Relations

HELSUS—Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, Department of Economics and Management, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland

Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo (CCDR-LVT), 1269-053 Lisbon, Portugal

Department of Agriculture, University of Pisa, Food and Environment (DAFE), I-56124 Pisa, Italy

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Regionalmanagement Steirischer Zentralraum, A-8010 Graz, Austria

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Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham GL50 2RH, UK

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Oikos, Sustainable Development, Inc., SI-1241 Ljubljana-Kamnik, Slovenia

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Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland

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Institute of Local Development, University of València, ES-46010 València, Spain

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Baltic Studies Centre, LV-1014 Rīga, Latvia

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Municipality of Ede, NL-6877 Ede, The Netherlands

¹¹

Rural Sociology Group (RSO), Section Space, Place and Society (SPS), Wageningen University, NL-6700 HB Wageningen, The Netherlands

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Before: Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3FL, UK.

Academic Editors: Stephan Bartke and Sigrun Kabisch

Land 2021, 10(5), 512; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050512

Received: 28 March 2021 / Revised: 26 April 2021 / Accepted: 6 May 2021 / Published: 11 May 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural-Partnerships: Sustainable and Resilient)

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Abstract

This article focuses on the question of how a shift from a narrow economic perspective to a wider sustainable wellbeing focus in regional development strategies and actions might change rural–urban relations. A brief review of relevant research and discourses about economic development models provides the foundation for the analysis. The review leads to the development of an analytical framework that puts the notion of sustainable wellbeing at its center. The criteria included in the analytical framework are then used to assess the current situation, challenges and perceived ways forward based on data and analyses from 11 European regions. The focus of the analysis is on different expressions of a sustainable wellbeing economy, and aspects of territorial development that are consistent with the basic features of a wellbeing economy are identified. Development dynamics and tensions between different development goals and resource uses, strategies and actions that are in favor of sustainable wellbeing goals, and conditions for more mutually beneficial rural–urban relationships are discussed. The article concludes with the implications for local government, and governance and policy frameworks. Reference is made to current high-level strategic policy frameworks and the European Green Deal. View Full-Text

Keywords: sustainable wellbeing; rural–urban relations; land management; local government; governance; policy; case studies; Europe

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MDPI and ACS Style

Knickel, K.; Almeida, A.; Galli, F.; Hausegger-Nestelberger, K.; Goodwin-Hawkins, B.; Hrabar, M.; Keech, D.; Knickel, M.; Lehtonen, O.; Maye, D.; Ruiz-Martinez, I.; Šūmane, S.; Vulto, H.; Wiskerke, J.S.C. Transitioning towards a Sustainable Wellbeing Economy—Implications for Rural–Urban Relations. Land 2021, 10, 512. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050512

AMA Style

Knickel K, Almeida A, Galli F, Hausegger-Nestelberger K, Goodwin-Hawkins B, Hrabar M, Keech D, Knickel M, Lehtonen O, Maye D, Ruiz-Martinez I, Šūmane S, Vulto H, Wiskerke JSC. Transitioning towards a Sustainable Wellbeing Economy—Implications for Rural–Urban Relations. Land. 2021; 10(5):512. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050512

Chicago/Turabian Style

Knickel, Karlheinz, Alexandra Almeida, Francesca Galli, Kerstin Hausegger-Nestelberger, Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins, Mojca Hrabar, Daniel Keech, Marina Knickel, Olli Lehtonen, Damian Maye, Irune Ruiz-Martinez, Sandra Šūmane, Hans Vulto, and Johannes S.C. Wiskerke. 2021. "Transitioning towards a Sustainable Wellbeing Economy—Implications for Rural–Urban Relations" Land 10, no. 5: 512. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050512

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