This book aims to foster a dialogue within and across rural communities, practitioners, academics, and decision-makers for interdisciplinary collaborations and informed actions. It offers knowledge about challenges faced by rural communities around the world to assess their Vulnerabilities, Vitality assets, and Versatility to react in a time of global threats and discusses the opportunities and the limits of new technologies, such as remote sensing, to assess these rural conditions. The case studies and examples included discuss how rural communities cope with emergencies and unexpected changes from outside and how to collaborate for achieving better preparedness.FeaturesProvides a practical guide with resources and applications for researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers exploring rural development challenges worldwideIntroduces the emergent concept of “Vitality, Vulnerability and Versatility” to better grasp the challenges of ural communitiesOffers a valuable set of tools to assess rural vulnerability and vitality and focuses on long-term rural transformations that are meaningful for various communitiesIntegrates remote sensing technology and explores its opportunities and limits when used in different environmentsIncludes real-life case studies from different countries to illustrate how rural conditions assessment can be performedIntroduces a visual roadmap to facilitate and compare rural assessment between and within rural communitiesThis book is an insightful resource for practitioners, researchers, graduate, and senior undergraduate students in the fields of urban/regional planning, land management, geography, environment studies, and remote sensing, as well as agencies and NGO institutions working with rural communities.
