Sarah Skerratt - Böcker

Drawing together the experiences of individuals, households and businesses, this book offers an international perspective on the on how and the extent to which the experiential nature of being rural, whether as an business manager in an SME (or micro-enterprise), a non-business person, a retired inhabitant or a housewife is changing as Information and Communication Technologies become applied more widely and allow people to be connected across geographies.The contributors investigate ways in which these ICTs are being variously experienced in rural areas of Europe, providing a commentary on changing ruralities and their implications for European, national and regional Information Society policies. These changing ruralities are presented here as the lived experiences of individuals, businesses and communities, and the ways in which their experiences are being enhanced, undermined and variously modified through application of ICTs within business, home, leisure and social relations. The book examines the space and place implications of these changes, as reported in a range of rural settings within Scandinavia and Western Europe. An essential read for economists interested in the area, Information and Communication Technologies in Rural Society will benefit postgraduate students in areas of research such as rural development, regional development and new technology management among others.

There has been a profound change within the sphere of government and societal regulation in recent years. Traditional hierarchical government has been challenged by new governance instruments relying on negotiations instead of command and control. Alongside this development there has been a change in the time-framing of politics and steering. Traditional politics implicitly has been based on stability and permanence while new forms of governance explicitly are based on just-in-time actions such as projects and issue-based collaborations in networks and programs. This book analyses the implications of this shortening of time frames, focusing particularly on spatial policy interventions. Spatial policies have a special relevance when it comes to governance and new forms of societal steering. On the one hand, the local (geographical) level in politics is the principal battleground for the struggle between top down and bottom up approaches and aspirations. On the other hand, many of the most burning issues of our time require a global, strategic approach, for example, climate change, resource depletion, population growth are anchored in space and the physical world. Whether and how short-term spatial approaches can achieve sustainable development outcomes is thus a critical question, and forms the focus of this volume. The book examines the characteristics of temporary policy measures across a range of rural, urban and regional contexts, in four continents: Europe, North America, Oceania and Africa. The outcomes and effects of these policies and interventions are analysed, particularly focusing on the tension between short-term interventions and long-term effects.