This handbook analyses policies and institutions which have been intended to support rural development in an international, comparative context. Focusing on rural regions, people and economies, the volume examines the success or failure of those polices and asks which might assure the survival and development of rural regions in the future.

List of figures. List of tables. Notes on contributors. Acknowledgements. Rural Policy Learning Commons. Introduction.Part I: Introduction to comparative rural policy studies 1 What is rural? What is rural policy? What is rural development policy? 2 Comparing ruralities: the case of Canada and the United States. 3 What is rural? The historical evolution of rural typologies in Europe. 4 A comparative rural profile across OECD member countries. 5 Why comparative rural policy studies? Comparative theory and methods. 6 Policy process theory for rural policy. 7 Policy outcomes of decentralized public programs: implications for rural policy. 8 Co-constructing rural futures: understanding place-based development and policy. 9 Territorial capital in rural policy development.Part II: People and society 10 International migration: sustaining rural communities. 11 Rural immigration and welcoming communities. 12 The role of women in rural areas. 13 Rural poverty in a comparative context. 14 Understanding the dimensions of aging and old age in rural areas. 15 Rural health and well-being. 16 Rural policy and the cultural construction of the urban/rural divide in the United States and Europe. Part III: Resources and environment 17 Environmental policy: what are the options? 18 The inefficiency of resource policy as a mechanism to deliver rural policy. 19 The water-energy-food-climate nexus. 20 Governance of watersheds in rural areas. 21 Rethinking energy in agricultural and rural areas. 22 Conventional and alternative agri-food chains. 23 Building sustainable regional food systems: policies and support. 24 Drivers of food losses and their implications for the agro-food chain: selected case studies. 25 Fish as food: policies affecting food sovereignty for rural Indigenous communities in North America. 26 Public policies affecting community forest management.Part IV: Innovation 27 Social economy and entrepreneurship in rural areas. 28 Grounded innovation in the rural bioeconomy. 29 Innovation, broadband, and community resilience. 30 Climate change adaptation by farmers: the case of Nepal.Part V: Rural policy reviews 31 Rural policy in the United States. 32 Rural policy in Canada. 33 Rural policy in Europe. 34 Rural policy in the Western Balkans.Part VI: Comparative rural policy case studies 35 Peri-urban agricultural policies in Canada and France. 36 A non-profit as a policy actor? A case study of the Breds Treasure Beach Foundation in Jamaica. 37 Post-Soviet rural areas towards European integration: the difficult transition of Moldova. 38 "Why local governments?" An ongoing debate in rural New Brunswick, Canada. 39 A comparative case study of the Main Street Program in the United States. 40 Community-managed forestry in Palo Seco, Mexico. 41 Land ownership and land management policies in Norway and Scotland. 42 Local policies addressing poverty and social exclusion in rural Spain during the recession. 43 Integral mountain development in Spain: an historical review.Index.