Young Researches and the Problems of Polish Rural Areas

The aim of this publication is to look at the problems of Polish rural areas from the perspective of the young generation of researchers, to show what problems they are interested in and what study methods and techniques they use to describe the phenomena occurring in Polish villages. The results of their studies were also presented to underscore the importance of these phenomena for the development of knowledge concerning the dynamic transformations in Polish rural areas. The Authors represent different fields of study (sociology, ethnography, economy and geography) from renowned academic centres such as University of Lodz, Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, Polish Academy of Sciences (IRWiR PAN) in Warsaw, Life Science University of Poznan, Technical University in Warsaw, Institute of Urban Development in Krakow, and Maria Grzegorzewska University. What they have in common is interest in the problems of rural areas and their residents. They focus on the new model of rural development, very often identified with concepts such as multifunctional and sustainable development, on social innovation, the subject of transformations in rural residents’ social roles, including rural women serving public roles, as well as on the strategies of coping with the reality used by residents of marginalized villages. The articles introduce the Readers to selected problems of development of Polish rural areas and help them to understand their complexity.

Introduction 7 Ruta Śpiewak – Rural Area Inhabitants in the Context of the New Model of Rural Area Development 15 Pamela Jeziorska-Biel – The “Rural Renewal” Programme as a Mechanism of Promoting Sustainable Development of Municipalities in Poland. An Example of the Lodz Region 31 Katarzyna Zajda – Determinants of Social Innovations in Polish Rural Communities 43 Kinga Pawłowska – How to Cope in the System: Some Tactics of the Inhabitants of Selected Polish Villages 59 Sylwia Michalska – Evolution of Social Roles of Rural Women in Poland: Facilitating and Constraining Factors 83 Ilona Matysiak – The Determinants of Women’s Participation in the Subcommunal Self-Government in Rural Areas in Poland – the Case of Village Representative 101 Magdalena Dej – Company Relocation to Rural Areas in Large Metropolitan Regions in Poland – Scale and Key Characteristics 121 Adam Czarnecki – The Changing Role of Small Towns as Sales and Supply Markets for Rural Hinterland 147 Jakub Hadyński – The Regional Aspects of Rural Areas Competitiveness in the EU 169 Authors’ bios 183