Rural Development Strategies in the EU: Strengthening Agricultural Sectors and Local Economies

Dear Colleagues,

Rural areas are significant in the European Union, particularly considering that their population represents about 20% of the European total, but their GDP per capita is significantly below the European average. Given the importance of rural areas, within the framework of rural development policy, the European Union has set goals for the growth of rural regions, but also growth in terms of employment and living standards: improving the competitiveness of agriculture, achieving sustainable management of natural resources and climate action, and the balanced territorial development of rural areas. Bearing in mind the heterogeneity of rural areas in the EU, the creation of an adequate rural strategy that will rely on local capacities and strengthen the competitiveness of agriculture has been determined to be a necessity according to the most recently published vision for the European Union’s rural areas. According to this vision, preserving rural areas and investing in their future is very important, as rural areas are a core part of Europe’s identity and economic potential.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) that provide insights into the rural development strategies of the European Union that rely on strengthening the competitiveness of the agricultural sector but also on local capacities and specificities. As agriculture is often the dominant economic activity in rural areas, this Special Issue aims to look at practices intended to improve the competitiveness of agriculture in a way that will contribute to rural development in the EU and the candidate countries for EU membership. Also, to build new opportunities with a stronger voice for rural communities, research that looks at local specificities that can improve rural development is of great importance.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

• European policies and strategies in the field of rural development;
• EU rural development policy after 2027;
• Vision for EU rural areas;
• The impact of agricultural development on the development of rural areas of the EU;
• Appreciation of local specificities in the development of EU rural areas.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Prof. Dr. Stanislav Zekić
Dr. Bojan Matkovski
Dr. Žana Jurjević
Guest Editors

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• sustainable rural development
• rural development programs and strategies
• vision for rural areas
• agricultural development
• local economic development