engleski

University cooperation for rural development challenges

Many rural villages and towns in Croatia are having difficulty making the economic transition to a modern market economy. Sixty years of Communism followed by the Croatian war for independence have presented serious economic challenges for the rural sector. Among the challenges are unemployment, deteriorating infrastructures, inexperienced local governments, and an aging population. Villages in the continent or on the coast and islands have experienced significant out-migration toward urban areas. Given the current demographic trends, the countryside will be abandoned within ten years unless rural development initiatives are implemented to build sustainable economies in rural Croatia. This paper describes the reasons and starting points for a project that advocates building a formal partnership between rural communities and local governments in Croatia working with the University of Zagreb, the University of Georgia, and the Croatian NGO ICAM to develop the capacity of rural areas to implement sustainable and replicable economic development initiatives.

rural villages; economic transition; challenges; demographic trends; sustainable

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