Reconciling the different dimensions of rural: the role of the rural animator Betty-Ann Bryce Administrator Rural Development Programme Regional Development.

Reconciling the different dimensions of rural: the role of the rural animator

Betty-Ann BryceAdministratorRural Development ProgrammeRegional Development Policy DivisionPublic Governance and Territorial Development Directorate

Roadmap

1.About OECD Rural Programme2.Common trends in Rural areas3.Rural Policy and the New Rural Paradigm4.Common policy threads 5.Rural areas: opportunities and growth 6.Role of the animator

ABOUT THE OECD RURAL WORK

Rural Development Programme workFirst phase Second phase Third phase

Rural StudiesRural Studies1992-93 1994-2005 2006->

2006-2007Mexico, Germany

2007-2008Finland, Scotland UK,Netherlands

2008-2009Spain,Italy,China

2006The New RuralParadigm

2007Cáceres, Spain

2006,Edinburgh,

Scotland

2005,Oaxaca,Mexico

2004,Virginia, US

2002,Siena, Italy

October 2012 Krasnoyarsk, Russia

New Approaches to Rural Policy:Lessons from Around the World

Rural (and Territorial) Database

Rural Case Studies

Policy Analysis•Micro-Regions (Mexico)•Extremadura, (Spain)•Basque Country (Spain)•Tuscany (Italy)•Lake Balaton (Hungary)•Crete (Greece)•Active Regions (Germany)•Local Strategic Partnerships (UK)•Community Futures Programme (Canada)

•Turuel (Spain)•Sumerke (Greece),•Siena (Italy)

Rural ConferencesRural Conferences

Rural Policy Reviews Forthcoming Rural Publications 2011-2013

2008Cologne, Germany

Renewable Energy

Multi-Level LocalGovernance: Italy

Rural-Urban links

Renewable Energy

Multi-Level LocalGovernance: Italy

Rural-Urban links

“Innovation and Modernising Rural economies”

“Innovation and Modernising Rural economies”

2009-2011England, UKQuébec, CARural Services

2009Québec Canada

Common trends in rural areas

Common trends in Rural areas

• Each nation has roughly the same rural issues:» Declining role of agriculture and a historic rural

policy focus on agriculture» Aging demographics» Increasing demands for more and better public

services» Tension between preservation and development» Difficulty in devolving power to lower levels» Only a vague sense of new economic

opportunities» For EU countries an additional problem of

reconciling EU priorities with national priorities

Common trends in rural areas

• changing economic profiles of rural economies

• Farming is still important but employment opportunities in agriculture are declining.

• Difficulty establishing the necessary: critical mass of facilities; producer services; and, infrastructure to support economic development.

The OECD NEW RURAL PARADIGM and Rural Policy

Basis of analysis:evolved from the New Rural Paradigm…

Two principles characterise the “new rural paradigm”: 1) a focus on places instead of sectors and 2) a focus on investments instead of subsidies.

Old approach New approach

ObjectivesEqualisation, farm income, farm competitiveness

Competitiveness of rural areas, valorisation of local assets, exploitation of unused resources

Key target sector

Agriculture

Various sectors of rural economies (ex. rural tourism, manufacturing, ICT industry, etc.)

Main tools Subsidies Investments

Key actorsNational governments, farmers

All levels of government (supra-national, national, regional and local), various local stakeholders (public, private, NGOs)

The New Rural Paradigm

• In the NRP, the focus is on enhancing competitiveness of rural areas using local assets, in a manner that taps all aspects of the local economy, relies on investments over subsides , involves all levels of government (private and public stakeholders) and allows for decisions to be taken at the appropriate level.

What is Rural Policy?

• Not a coherent set of policies and programs – amalgam of independent pieces that evolves through time.

• Two levels•Narrow Rural Policy – those policies that are

designed to explicitly affect rural areas – agriculture, rural broadband, rural doctors

•Broad Rural Policy - those policies that have no specific geographic focus but have major rural impacts – national health insurance, education policy, investment policy

OECD framework forRural Policy

• Somewhere between “narrow-niche” policy and “broad-grand plan” policy

COMMON POLICY THREADS IN OECD COUNTRIES

Common policy threads (1)

•In the aggregate, rural economies are seen as similar to urban regions.

•However, below the aggregate level, there are different types of activity, skills utilized, value-added, wage levels and organizational complexity.

In some cases, the difference between rural and urban economies is not considered

Common policy threads (2)

• Focus of most rural policy is on remote rural.

• Very little policy targets peri-urban areas or more intermediate regions, even though the majority of the rural population is found in these places.

Need for a focus on intermediate regions and urban-rural linkages

Common policy threads (3)

• In terms of broad socio-economic indicators the aggregate rural population is near national averages, and in some nations above.

• Service delivery in rural areas is an increasingly important issue.

National average for rural masks significant pockets of rural deprivation.

Common policy threads (4)

• Most national governments accept that rural development requires devolution of responsibility to local authorities, but are reluctant to provide financial capacity.

• Central governments often struggle with overcoming their own sectoral approach in favour of an integrated policy approach to rural development.

Devolution: more responsibility, limited resources.

Common policy threads (5)

• Tourism and other amenity based activities are seen as providing growth opportunities

• Different use of EU funds “defining” domestic rural policy, and/or “supplement” an indigenous policy.

No country sees agriculture as a way to achieve major rural development objectives

Rural areas: opportunities and growth

Opportunities

• Tourism• Forestry• Renewable

Energy• Local Foods

Threats

• Single Industry towns

• Demography• Climate change• Declining fiscal

resources to local govts.

There is strong growth potential

• Rural regions can in fact be potentially important sources of growth, but a different policy approach is needed to tap that potential

• Across the OECD area, predominantly rural regions have, on average, enjoyed faster growth than intermediate or urban regions with an average rate of growth of 2.33% for rural regions close to a city, 2.24% for rural remote regions as compared to the OECD average of 2.06% over 1995-2007.

some rural areas outperforming urban areas

• Transport infrastructure is one factor (e.g. but it can be a positive and a negative)

• Endogenous resources drive development– Each region have different combinations and

different levels of endowment: what is important is the availability of one form of capital and the. ability to properly exploit it.

The Rural Animator

Some key issues from the perspective of the OECD for the Rural Animator

• What: – What key issue(s) are rural policy makers trying to address?; What are the drivers of these issues?; Do the issues vary by country or by regions within countries? What issues get the attention of government decision-makers?

 • Why – Why is it important for government policy

makers to take rural considerations into account? Why is it important to take rural-urban linkages into account?

Some key issues from the perspective of the OECD for the Rural Animator

• How –How can regional rural differences be communicated clearly to other policy makers within government? – Which approaches to integrating rural considerations into

policy making are achieving promising results? – Who are the key actors in these promising approaches?  

•  • Tools - What tools have proved to be helpful? What

improvements are needed for greater effectiveness? Should rural-proofing, or the application of a rural lens to policy and program initiatives, be mandatory or voluntary?      

•  

Rural Animator• Today the rural “voice” is much more

diffused partly due to decentralisation and new firms and sectors in rural areas.

• The issues and stakeholders have multiplied

• RA need to be able to:• Advocate – diff levels of govt

• Negotiate -- diff levels of govt• Rural proof – diff levels of govt

Navigate complexity

Thank you!For more information please visit

www.oecd.org/gov/ruraldevelopment www.oecd.org/rural/krasnoyarsk

or contact me at: [email protected]