Unfolding webs : the dynamics of regional rural development

"Rural development stems from combining a wide range of different and often refigured rural resources in new ways. As a result these resources flow into new activities, interactions, transactions and networks. The effects of this become particularly significant when activities and relationships start to mutually reinforce each other. This is when synergy is created; especially when new town-countryside relations emerge that support the newly emerging activities and networks. The contributions in this volume help expand our understanding of the creative patterns which shape resources, activities, transactions and networks and which build new relationships between them.The contributions to this book have been developed in the context of the ETUDE programme that is conducted (in the period 2007-2009) within the 6th Framework of the European Union. European Perspectives on Rural Development is a series, which offers new and fresh insights into European rural development. At the same time, it emphasises the specific and heterogeneous nature of the European countryside, its regions and agricultural systems.The series is published under the auspices of the Circle of European Studies (CERES) and Wageningen University."