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Listen to the voice of villages

Staff: Eder Renate, Project Staff; Arnberger Arne, Project Staff; Pröbstl-Haider Ulrike, Project Staff; Salak Boris, Project Staff (bis 09.03.2022)

BOKU Research Units: Institute for Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning

Funded by: Commission of the European Communities, Rue de la Loi, Brussels, European Union

Abstract: For several years rural areas have been suffering from big difficulties and troubles occurred in the competitiveness, the attractiveness and the unemployment field. A problem which is typical for many Central Europe areas, characterized by marginality problems depopulation, demographical changes due to a progressive ageing of local population along with a deep lack and inadequacy of the territorial development policies.

Nevertheless the territories in question are in possession of enormous natural, cultural-historical and local craft wealth. These resources, if properly exploited, could become the real “economic engine” of these areas. The main goal of the project is to consequently increase the competitiveness and the attractiveness of these rural marginal territories, showing unexpressed tourist potential, through the settlement and the implementation of new territorial governance tools and implementing new pilot projects inside the sustainable tourism sector.

Keywords: tourist research; Nature conservation (- research) ; regional planning; Regional development planning ; landscape planning;; Sustainable tourism development;