The countryside produces mainly timber, fibres, food and energy crops, but also has great potential for further production of "new" products, services and assets such as recreation, outdoor activities and ecosystem services. The countryside is also an attractive housing environment. This gives rise to new economic activities which are not directly associated with traditional agriculture and silviculture. Because of these changes, the focus moves from primary production to a broader rural perspective. The countryside has a great potential to make a substantial contribution to the further development and growth of Sweden.
However, the picture is not only favourable. The countryside, especially the sparsely populated areas, has serious problems related to depopulation, decreasing service facilities and insufficient labour markets.
Research on how economy, service and housing in the countryside can be developed sustainably is important. In its "Research strategy 2009-2012", Formas has identified five themes that are of vital importance for sustainable development. One of these is urban and rural development which will have the highest priority during the period 2009-2012.
Cultural, social, economic and ecological aspects
By Government mandate, Formas has, in cooperation with funding agencies, researchers and the potential users of research results, drawn up a national strategy for research on rural development, Knowledge of rural development. The strategy states that rural research is seen as an insubstantial and fragmented genre, a research field that has not yet properly found its forms. There is a lack of necessary continuity for the creation of an internationally strong research field. The strategy for strengthening Swedish rural research, which Formas has presented, is an attempt to set up a platform for the creation, over an extended period, of research on the cultural, social, economic and ecological conditions of the countryside.
The aim is that Swedish researchers should take a more active part in this internationally important research field, with greater participation in conferences and research projects and more publications in journals. The strategy proposes special initiatives in some areas where Formas has a key role and where some initiatives have already been taken.
Thematic strategic inputs
Formas considers that a more systematic build-up of knowledge relating to the cultural, social, economic and ecological conditions of the countryside could play an important part, both in the sciences and in the future development of rural areas in Sweden. Management of natural resources in a broad sense will emerge as a crucial issue.
Formas considers there is a need for
- critical, theory-generating research on cultural, social and economic conditions in the countryside
- applied research with the focus on development that supports, scrutinises and contributes to development initiatives and innovations that can promote sustainable rural development
- interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research with the focus on the management of natural resources and the social development of the countryside
- research of practical and empirical orientation that can inform politicians and other stakeholders of the scope for action and of the consequences of different initiatives
- establishment of a network that creates a context for exchanges and cooperation among reserchers from different disciplines and research institutions.
Last year, Formas called for grant applications in this area, with funds amounting to MSEK 15 annually over three years, in a strategic initiative in some prioritised research areas:
- Natural resources and landscapes for the production of "new" assets
- Development and demographic challenges of the local community
- New rurality, with new relationships between urban and rural areas.
Seventeen research projects received support for a three year period. Most of these are of both interdisciplinary and applied nature. During the autumn, Formas also advertised for applications for grants for strong research environments where rural development is one of the prioritised focuses and where the issue of land use has been specially emphasised.
Internationalisation
There is a need for funding to strengthen international exchanges. One example is funds for postdoctoral posts, both to give young researchers from other countries the opportunity for research in Sweden, and to enable those who have been awarded their doctorates in Sweden to do their research abroad. The ability to place foreign researchers at Swedish research environments is also important in supporting exchanges with leading international research environments. Such facilities already exist within the framework of Formas' established grant allocations.
Together with Holland, Sweden (through Formas) has been the initiator of European cooperation within an ERANet: RURAGRI – Facing sustainability: new relationships between rural areas and agriculture in Europe. Research funding agencies from around twenty European countries will cooperate on different activities in the field of rural policy.
Research to do with rural policy is mostly conducted on a national or regional level. There is limited coordination and integration among national research programmes. This fragmentation makes for duplication of work and poor use of resources. At the same time, problems and challenges have great similarities in Europe.
Within RURAGRI, Formas will be responsible for the development of a European research strategy, as a prelude to the development of the European and national agricultural policy. In order to further strengthen the internationalisation of research, we will also jointly advertise grant applications to finance multinational research teams.
Coordination
In the autumn of 2002, Research Council Formas, Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA), Nordic Centre for Spatial Development (Nordregio) and Institute for Futures Studies organised a conference on "The sparse structures in the global economy – the state of knowledge and research needs" at which international and Swedish researchers highlighted research needs and research strategies to build up Swedish research for rural and sparsely populated areas. In addition, Formas and the Rural Development Committee, together with KSLA, organised a conference on the theme "Research for sustainable rural development" early in 2006.
Formas recognises the need for a network for exchanges and cooperation among researchers. The idea is that a network will be set up that is based on the projects in the strategic initiative but is also open to other researchers. Participation in the network should therefore be one of the tasks in the programme in question. Examples of important tasks are conferences, state-of-the-art reports on various areas, and active work for promoting the internationalisation of the area. Research results must be communicated both within the research world and to the surrounding community.
Information on the state-of-the-art in Swedish rural research was presented earlier this year in a booklet "Shall the whole of Sweden prosper" in the Formas series Formas Focuses and at a seminar in cooperation witk KSLA. An annual conference on rural research, with the focus on northern and European conditions, should be arranged. This will be the basis for the networking and exchange among researchers which we believe is necessary to strengthen this field over a period.
The Rural Network at the Swedish Board of Agriculture and Formas have formed a joint working group with the objective of creating arenas for cooperation among researchers in the research field Rural Development. These arenas will both review and develop the research field as a whole, and will also intensify cooperation on certain themes.
These arenas have the task to
- support the sharing of experiences between ongoing and completed research, and must also play a part in
- identifying new research needs (e.g. through dialogue with the players in the network), and
- providing the inspiration for the formation of research teams for new important research projects.
We have initiated cooperation on forming a joint scientific council and are planning a conference of researchers in the spring of 2009 with participants from Sweden and abroad.
Author
:
Bengt Ohlsson
is Senior Research Officer at Formas, with responsibility for rural research.
Literature:
Knowledge on rural development. Research strategy. Formas 2006. Shall the whole of Sweden prosper? Formas Focuses, 2008.